


Ace of Aces

by Herperderper



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2018-06-10 13:05:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6957655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herperderper/pseuds/Herperderper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After basic training at Beacon Huntsmen Corps Air Base, Team RWBY is accepted into the ranks of the Huntsmen Corps' elite air force. Will they achieve greatness, or will they crash and burn? Who will become the Ace of Aces? Rated M for violence, cursing, Yang...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, Herperderper here. This is my first fic, so if you could tell me how it is, that would be great. Feel free to make suggestions or point out any plot holes. This first chapter is more of an introduction, so it's a little different from how things are going to be afterward. Hope you enjoy, Herperderper out.

One Year Ago

“Aww man this is gonna be freaking AWESOME!!” Ruby yelled as the four entered their dorm. An equally excited Yang followed her in and jumped (flopped) onto Blake’s bed.

“Yeah! Flight school. I can’t wait.” she said punching the air above her. 

“As much as I enjoy your enthusiasm,” Weiss stated sarcastically, “This… changes basically everything.” 

“Oh relax Ice Queen, we’ll still be Huntresses, It's just, we’re gonna be pilots too.” Yang said from the bed.

“Well, two of us will be pilots, the others will be RWCOs.” Blake said, coming into the room. She glared at Yang as she saw the blonde on her bed.

“RW who-da-what?” the brawler asked, confused.

“Remote Weapons Control Officer,” Ruby piped up “Basically, they control any turrets on the aircraft, along with helping the pilot target missiles and bombs and stuff.”

“Well, who is going to do what?” Weiss asked.

“I think they are going to assign us after some testing.” Blake spoke up.

6 Months Ago

“The test results have come in, RWBY squadron, Ruby Rose: Pilot, Squadron lead, Yang Xiao-Long: Pilot, Wingman, Blake Belladonna: Weapons Officer, Lead aircraft, Weiss Schnee: Weapons Officer, Trailing aircraft.”

“Yes! Pilot!” Ruby yelled, jumping up and down. 

“Now we just need to start training.” Blake said with a small smile.

Present Day

Ruby walked slowly toward the sleek fighter aircraft. It was a far cry from the modified Bullhead transports that they had flown up until this point. She, along with Blake, had put hours of work into the fighter, from painting it, to making tiny adjustments to the control surfaces. Blake had even replaced the 4 10 millimeter turret guns with 14.5 millimeter kinetic dust cannons. The two had come together and given the ship a fitting name, Black Rose. But today… today was the first time they would be able to fly without an instructor.  
Ruby paused as she stepped up to the cockpit. She turned to Blake, who nodded. The two climbed up into the fighter, settling into their respective seats. Both started to flip switches and press buttons, slowly bringing the ship online. The voice of the ship’s AI filled the cockpit.

“Auxiliary Power online, Heads Up Display online, engaging turbines.” The sound of the turbines spinning filled the air. “Turbines online, Re-routing power to VTOL thrusters.” A puff of flames burst out from the VTOL thrusters on the tips of the wings and the horizontal stabilizers. Ruby checked the control panels and displays, making sure that all of the systems were online and ready.

“You ready back there Blake?” She asked, pulling a helmet on to her head.

“All set.” Her voice came over the helmet’s intercom.

“Alright,” Ruby said. She keyed the radio to the ATC tower, “Tower, this is RWBY One-One requesting takeoff clearance from pad Alpha-Seven, Over.” 

“Copy that RWBY One-One, you are cleared for takeoff from pad Alpha-Seven. Proceed into clockwise traffic pattern before breaking on bearing Two-Seven-Zero at angels three, how copy?”

“RWBY One-One copies all, clockwise traffic pattern, break bearing Two-Seven-Zero angels three, out.” Ruby pushed the throttle forward, and the craft lifted slowly into the air. The underwing engines kicked in, and the fighter accelerated away from the landing pad. They circled the base once, before breaking on the indicated bearing and climbing to three thousand feet. It wasn’t long before the radio crackled again.

“RWBY One-One, tower. What’s your status, over.” Ruby calmly looked at her Heads Up Display before keying the radio.

“Tower, RWBY One-One. Proceeding to point X-Ray, speed: Four-Zero-Zero Knots, at Angels Three, ETA: Three Mikes, over.

“Copy that, One-One. Proceed to point X-Ray, then turn to bearing Zero-Niner-Zero, at Angels Five. How copy?”

“Solid copy tower, turn Zero-Niner-Zero, Angels five at point X-Ray, Out.” With that, Ruby looked over her shoulder at Blake and nodded. The raven haired girl smiled, nodding back. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the crackle of the radio and a panicked voice.

“RWBY One-One, you need to get out of there now, we have two fighters closing on your position at bearing One-One-Five, Angels Four! Fighters have been scrambled and are enroute to your position, but you need to RTB now, how copy?!” 

“RWBY copies all, we are RTB at full burn,” Ruby said, her voice raising. “Blake, boot up the RWR and scan for targets. Go boresight on the radar guides.” The young pilot commanded, turning the aircraft around. Blake did as ordered and prepared for a fight.

“Radar Warning Receiver online, radar guided missiles locked on boresight.” Blake called to Ruby, mentally checking off the list as she flipped switches. “Contact, eleven o’clock high, 5 miles out, closing fast.” she yelled as she caught sight of an aircraft. “They’re locking us… missile inbound.” Ruby cursed, mashing the countermeasure button and flares fired from the tail of the fighter. The craft rolled and dove under the missile, responding elegantly to the movements Ruby put on the stick and rudder pedals. They rolled back upright and nosed toward the second enemy fighter. A beeping tone filled the cockpit, telling Ruby that a missile had locked onto its target.

“Rifle 1!” She yelled as she squeezed the release trigger. A long, thin missile jumped off of the underwing rail, and sped toward the target, leaving a white vapor trail behind it. The targeted fighter dumped chaff and broke away from the missile, causing it to miss. Both pilots closed in, daring each other to flinch. The closing enemy fighter did first, pulling up over Black Rose. As they passed, time seemed to slow as both Blake and Ruby looked upon their adversary. The fighter was bulky, yet quick, showing less care for looks than performance. The massive craft was armed to the teeth with 2 cannons and 8 missile rails, each with a shiny missile hanging beneath it. It was a fighter to be feared, and held a name that reflected the fact; Ursa Majora. The Ursa class fighters were forces to be feared stock, but this heavily customized fighter seemed to be upgraded for speed and maneuverability. However, Black Rose was of the Huntsman class of fighters, designed specifically to destroy Grimm type craft. The ship was pure black, much like it’s namesake. Emblazoned on the tail, in stark contrast to the black paint, stood the symbol of the White Fang.

“Damn, its the White Fang,” Ruby yelled as the Ursa passed, “We need to get out of here.” Blake nodded as she fired the turret guns. The roar of gunfire and the clatter of casings filled the air as the fighter sped away from the fight. Soon, four black dots stood out on the horizon.

“Blake, twelve o’clock, identify!” Ruby commanded

“Positive IFF tone back. They’re friendly!” Blake responded. 

“Thank dust.” the young girl sighed. The dots grew closer and soon the fighters streaked past Black Rose to intercept the White Fang fighters. Ruby kept the throttle to the firewall, bursting past the sound barrier and accelerating to mach 2. Occasionally, the radio would crackle as the fighters called for help, or reported hits on the enemy. Soon, a radio call reported both Ursa fighters destroyed.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. It took four minutes to arrive over the base, and two to land. As the craft settled onto its landing gear, Yang and Weiss ran toward them from the cover of the building. Ruby expertly shut the aircraft down, flipping switches to their home positions, before pushing the canopy forward and climbing out. Blake followed her lead, stepping over the side of the cockpit, and jumping to the ground below. The raven haired girl landed expertly, crouching to the ground to mitigate the force of the fall. Ruby however, landed awkwardly, falling to one side, only to be steadied by Blake. 

“Are you guys okay?” Yang asked when she reached the pair. She looked over her sister, trying to see if anything was wrong with the girl.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Ruby said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “They attacked us and, we dodged, and I went toward one, and I shot a missile, but it missed, so we closed, and he broke first, and when we passed, we saw it was the White Fang, and then Blake shot at him, and then we flew away at afterburner, and then some reinforcements showed up, and they fought them, and won, and it was really, really, really cool!!” 

“She seems excited.” Weiss said, leaning in toward Blake. “Well, more excited than usual.” she amended.

“That’s just adrenaline. She’s gonna crash in a few minutes.” The faunus responded.

“Five minutes.” Weiss wagered. Blake shrugged at that.

“Three.” Sure enough, exactly three minutes later, Ruby leaned on her sister for support as they watched the ground crew refit Black Rose. Blake looked pointedly at Weiss, who rolled her eyes and passed her 5 lien.

“Well, with that, we should probably get to Ozpin for a debrief.” Blake spoke up.

“Yeah, probably.” Ruby said tiredly. The four turned and entered the building. As they walked down the hallway, Ruby continued to lean on Yang, her eyes closed, relying on the blonde to guide her. Soon they reached their dorm, and the group stopped.

“We’ll be here when you get back, we still have a few hours before our flight, if we still can.” Weiss said , breaking the silence.

“Alright,” Blake said, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders, “We need to go Ruby, Ozpin is waiting.”

“Okay.” She responded. The two continued down the hall, Ruby leaning on Blake, toward Ozpin’s office. Soon they reached a door at the end of the hallway. It seemed insignificant, painted the same color as the rest, but on the door, stenciled in black, was the name of its occupant.

 

Ozpin  
Headmaster  
Director of Combat Flight Operations  


Bracing herself, Blake pushed open the door and strode into the room, bringing Ruby with her.

 

Two hours later

The two headed back down the hallway toward their dorm, Blake practically carrying an exhausted Ruby.

“You know, this is why I told you to get some sleep last night.” Blake told her, pushing her way into the dorm room.

“Yeah, but it was so exciting. Come on, our first solo. You can’t say you weren’t excited too.” Ruby responded sleepily.

“I was excited, but I had the common sense to get some rest so I wasn’t tired.” Blake shot back.

“Eh, too late.” Ruby replied, attempting to walk toward her bunk. She took a step, wobbled, and started to fall back toward Blake. 

“Woah Ruby, watch out!” the raven haired girl said, attempting to brace the younger pilot. As Ruby fell, she reached out, searching for support, and wrapped her arms around Blake. The force behind her fall surprised the faunus, who collapsed along with her. As they hit the ground, their heads smacked together. Blinding pain filled Blake’s head, and she succumbed to the black that rose to cover her vision.


	2. Blake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, me again. First real chapter, so things are going to start being as they will be for the rest of the fic. Again, I hope you like it.

Ch1 - Blake  
A click startled me from my sleep. ‘Dust, my head hurts.’ Another click, followed by two more. ‘Whatever is making that click is going to be stabbed.’ Slowly, I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was a mass of dark hair on my chest. Blinking, I reached up and brushed it out of the way to reveal the face of a sleeping Ruby. ‘How did she get there, wait, where are we?’ Looking around, I was greeted by the smiling face of Yang… and her camera.

“You two are soooooo cute together!” she said, snapping another picture.

“Screw off Yang, it’s not what it looks like.” I said, annoyed. My head hurt, I was tired, and I was not in the mood for Yang in general.

“Well, then what is it, ‘cause it sure looks like you two are cuddling.” I just groaned, dropping my head back to the floor.

“My head hurts,” I moaned, bringing both hands up to my face.

“So what, you two went out to celebrate your first flight, got a little too drunk, and ended up confessing your undying love for each other?” the blonde asked.

“What! No, she was tired and fell. I tried to stop her but we both hit the floor, and I guess we got knocked out or something.”

“Oh. Well that’s not a very exciting way to get together…”

“YANG!” The blonde pilot deftly stepped out of the way as I punched in her direction.

“You two lovebirds have fun, Weiss and I are going to get some food. We just got back from our flight.” With that, she opened the door and stepped out. Before closing the door, however, she looked back, winked, and slammed it shut. The sound of the door slamming roused Ruby from her slumber. Slowly, she lifted her head from my chest.

“Ow, I have a huge headache… What happened? Why am I on top of you?” she asked, not giving me time to answer her questions. Eventually, the brunette stopped talking, allowing me to answer.

“Well, we went out to celebrate our flight and got a little bit too drunk. You then proceeded to confess your eternal love to me.” I said sarcastically. The sarcasm, however, didn’t seem to make it into Ruby’s brain.

“Oh crap, I did! Dust, I was trying to keep that a secret!” she exclaimed.

“Wait, what! I was being sarcastic. Yang asked if that was what happened and I guess i’ve been near her for too long.”

“Uhmm, can we just forget any of that ever-” Ruby was interrupted by the room shaking and the sound of a large explosion. A siren sounded and a voice came over the loudspeaker.

“All fighters, scramble. This is not a drill. All fighters scramble, multiple hostile aircraft inbound.” The two jumped to their feet, and sprinted out the door. They were met in the hallway by Yang and Weiss.

“What’s going on?!” Yang yelled as they ran toward their takeoff pads.

“Scramble! Hostile aircraft!” Ruby screamed back.

“Well, duh!” I ignored their argument, instead focusing on their current situation. Well, trying to at least. ‘Ruby likes me? No, not the time Blake, I have to focus on what’s going on.’ We reached the end of the hallway, and were greeted by the sounds of turbines spinning up. The four of us split up into groups of two, running toward two different landing pads. 

I reached Black Rose first, followed shortly by my pilot. Reaching up, I grabbed the side of the cockpit and pulled myself in. I settled into her seat, pulling my helmet onto her head as Ruby closed the canopy.

I quickly ran through the pre-flight checklist. As I finished the checklist, Ruby lifted the fighter from the ground.

“Tower, RWBY One-One, need a vector to hostile aircraft, over.” She said into her mic.

“RWBY One, Tower, hostile aircraft at bearing one-eight-niner, angels three, five miles out, closing at Mach one, over.

“Copy that,” She pushed the throttle forward, sending the fighter toward the enemy aircraft. I scanned the horizon, staring out the windscreen of my turret.

“There! Twelve o’clock high, two Nevermore bombers.” I shouted to Ruby. The pilot nodded, reaching up to arm the long range air-to-air radar missiles.

“Fox two!” she yelled as a missile leapt from the rail, shortly followed by another. The first sped toward it’s target, before detonating midway to the bomber. However, the second struck true, blowing the second Nevermore’s starboard wing from its fuselage. The wing root, burst into flames as shredded metal was ripped away by the wind. Ruby continued to close on the first bomber, intent on getting it with the forward mounted cannons. Suddenly, the sound of the radio filled the cockpit.

“Ruby, it’s Yang. Break off, we need to form up.” I looked behind me, spotting Yang’s fighter behind us. ‘She’s right, we’re to far ahead.’ 

“Ruby,” I yelled over the sound of the engines, “Yang’s right, we’re to far ahead of the others. We need to go back.” The younger girl didn’t show any signs of having heard me, instead, pulling the stick up slightly, and squeezing the trigger. Cannons roared to life under the fighter’s nose, sending rounds streaking toward the enemy craft. Red and white tracers slammed into the bomber, making it shudder under the force of the onslaught. I looked around, trying to keep us safe as my pilot focused the bomber. I sighted a black fighter diving from above, guns blazing toward us. 

“RUBY BREAK!!!” I yelled firing my guns toward the diving aircraft. Rounds slammed into Black Rose, punching holes on the canopy and saturating the cockpit. I covered my face as rounds impacted all around me. Finally, the onslaught ceased, and the air was eerily silent, despite the howling wind and roaring engines. I uncovered her eyes, and looked around. The canopy was in ruins, shredded by the cannon rounds, and many of my instruments were completely destroyed. But most startling, were the red splotches dotting the cockpit. I looked myself over, expecting to find a hole somewhere, but I was untouched. ‘No. Please no,’ I thought as I looked around Ruby’s seat. The young girl’s head was slumped over to the left, her right hand loosely gripping the joystick. Her legs were coated in a thin layer of blood. With a shudder, Black Rose started to roll on it’s side, pitching toward the ground

“Ruby!” I yelled, “Wake up Ruby!” I reached for my backup controls, flipping the takeover switch, and took control over the fatally wounded fighter. Quickly looking over the craft, I found that both engines had been disabled, the wings were severely damaged, and the tail plane was sluggish. Rolling the craft upright again, I pushed the nose down into a sharp dive, picking up airspeed. As we dove, I searched for a suitable landing site. Soon, I found a field, and steered the stricken fighter toward it. Gently, I put the craft down, its belly digging into the dirt. One wing struck the ground, ripping away and pulling the fighter around to the left. As the craft came to a rest, I untangled myself from my harness, and jumped out of the ruined canopy, and began to unstrap Ruby from her seat. I pulled the young pilot from the cockpit, and carefully set her on the ground.

“Please wake up Ruby.” I cried, tears streaming down my face as I started to rip my uniform into long strips. “For me, for Yang, Weiss. Please, I- I’ve been to scared to tell you, but… I feel the same Ruby. I have for almost a year now. So please, wake up.” I almost broke down, instead I turned my attention from Ruby to my work. The wound was just below Ruby’s ribcage, on the left side of her body. Steeling myself, I placed my left hand on the still bleeding wound, applying pressure. With my right hand, I searched my small first aid kit for clotting powder. I found the package, ripping it open with my teeth, and brought it to the wound.

“This is going to hurt,” I whispered to the girl, “I’m so sorry.” With that, I dumped the contents of the packet into the open wound. The pilot’s body tensed in response to the pain the powder was causing. Soon, the bleeding slowed, allowing me to tie her makeshift bandages around the small girl’s body. As I finished my ears twitched, picking up the sounds of movement behind me. I dropped my hand to my sidearm, drawing it and spinning around to find two White Fang footsoldiers.

I brought the sights up to the one on the right, squeezing the trigger. A shot rang out, sending a round into the first soldier’s chest, dropping him to the ground instantly. I quickly shifted my sights to the second soldier, again pulling the trigger. This time, two shots were heard at the same time. I was thrown to the dirt beside Ruby. Looking back toward the soldier, I found him on the ground, bleeding from his upper chest, his gun on the ground beside him with a spent casing jammed in the action. I looked herself over, finding blood blossoming from my right leg. I crawled to Ruby, enveloping the younger girl in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…” I mumbled repeatedly as I started to drift toward unconsciousness, The last thing I saw before blacking out was the wing of a yellow fighter circling the field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, 'This means the character is thinking', and "This means the character is speaking." as well as "This is your captain speaking, AND THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SHOUTING!" I hope that clears things up, Herperderper out.


	3. Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, me again. How do you like it so far, I enjoy working on it every once in a while, so it probably won't be released as fast as it could be. Just keep watching for updates, they'll happen eventually. Have fun with this chapter, Herperderer out.

Ch 2 - Ruby

I woke up in the back seat of the car with Yang. It took me a second to remember what was going on, but I soon did. Mom was taking us to the arcade! I hadn’t been there since Dad got his promotion almost a year ago. Yang and I were going to try for the high score in the new Fighter Squadron game that the arcade had brought in.

‘There! Get a medical team ASAP!’

Yang and I followed Mom into the Arcade. We were surrounded by flashing lights, sounds of games, and the ever-present smell of greasy pizza. We were so excited. Mom gave us our game passes, and we ran off toward the new game. It was covered in flashing light and the sound of jet fighters radiated from it’s speakers.

‘Corpsman! We’re losing this one!’

We played for hours, finally reaching the high score after numerous attempts. Mom helped us celebrate with pizza and soda. After that, Yang and I played our separate games. Yang played some motorcycle racing game, while I played some police shoot-em-up game.

‘I need Epi for the faunus! Standby on Defib!’

We started home around 4 o’clock. We piled into the car and started playing music while mom drove. Yang and I always fought over the radio station because she liked pop music while I liked rock. Usually Mom would let us argue for a while before changing the station to country.

‘Clear! No change, recharge!’

Predictably, we ended up listening to Mom’s music on the way home. Mom called Dad to tell him to put dinner in the oven. Suddenly, the car was slammed to the side, rolling over and over in the ditch.

‘Clear! Damn, we’re losing her! How’s that faunus doing?!’

Yang and I were dragged from the car by EMTs. Firefighters worked and worked, trying to free Mom from the wreckage of the car. They almost made it, but as they pulled the door open, the fuel tank detonated, killing her instantly and severely injuring the two firefighters.

‘Clear! Begin chest compressions! We’re not giving up on you yet, kid.’

I didn’t leave my room for weeks, only seeing other people when they came into my room. The firefighters came to apologize for not being fast enough, but I knew it wasn’t their fault. I only spoke to Yang. She told me that the driver of the other car had been drunk. He had hit a pedestrian, panicked, and sped off, running a stop sign and plowing into our car. He was sentenced to life in prison, but it didn’t make me feel any better. Nothing would bring Mom back.

‘She’s stabilizing, bring a litter! You’re gonna be alright ma’am. Someone get some dust damned Epi to that pilot!’

I took almost a year for me to recover my normal, cheerful self. Dad was elated when I finally did. We went out for dinner at our favorite restaurant. Yang had steak, Dad had ribs, and I had a large cheeseburger.

‘Sir, the faunus is loaded on the transport.’

After dinner, we had cookies for dessert. When we got home, Yang and I played video games until midnight, but Dad made us go to sleep.

‘BP rising, pulse is stead. She’s back. Load her up with the faunus, tell the other two that they’re stable.’

Yang slept in my room from then on, crawling into my bed to comfort me when I had a nightmare. She would hug me and whisper calming things into my ear until I fell back asleep. And that’s how I woke up.

 

I tightened my grip on around the form in front of me. My chest felt like it was on fire. I racked my brain, trying to remember what happened. I knew we had shot down a bomber, but after that… searing pain, and nothing. If I concentrated really hard, things started to come back slowly. I had a faint image of Blake standing over me, her gun pointed into the distance, but I’m not sure if it was my imagination or not. Yang shifted slightly in front of me, causing me to open my eyes to find…

“Blake?!” I asked incredulously.

“Hey Ruby,” she said, sounding relieved. “I just sat down to watch over you, but you kind of grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Yang used to sleep next to me when I had nightmares, I guess I thought you were her.”

“Don’t worry, I’m just glad you’re awake.” The raven haired girl said, smiling. A long silence followed, in which I realized I was still clinging to Blake. I quickly let go, clasping my hands in front of me. She seemed a little disappointed at first, but quickly went back to her normal self, and I started to doubt I had seen it right. After a while in silence, Blake looked toward me and shifted her weight a little. 

“So… Ruby?” She asked.

“Yeah?” I looked at her questioningly.

“How much… do you remember?” 

“Well, not much.” I told her, concentrating hard to find what little memories I could. “I remember the flight, launching two radar guides, I… we crashed, I think. After that everything is a little fuzzy. You were saying something to me, but I can’t remember what,” As I said that, she looked away, seemingly embarrassed. I didn’t remember what she said, but I was going to try to remember. “ And then you had your gun, but after that I don’t know.” I finished. 

“Oh… Well, I better let the others know you woke up, I’ll be right back.” She got up from the bed, grabbed a pair of crutches from the floor, and hobbled to the door. As she went through the door, she turned to look back at me, before fully exiting and closing the door. I resolved to ask her about the crutches when she came back. I attempted to shift positions and look at my surroundings, but as I moved my body was filled with pain. My eyes started to tear up and I had to stay still. Soon the pain disappeared and I could lay in peace once again. A few minutes later, a knock came from the door.

“Come in.” I said. The door burst open, and Yang ran toward my bed, kneeling beside me and grabbing my hand. 

“Thank dust you’re awake! Are you okay?” She asked, worriedly looking me over.

“I’m fine Yang, stop worrying.” I told her.

“Nah, I’m your big sis, I’ll always worry about you.” She wrapped me in a hug. The embrace was much more careful than her normal squeeze-the-life-out-of-you bear hug. It felt nice, but we were soon interrupted by a new voice.

“I see you finally decided to wake up.” The white clad heiress stood in the doorway, leaning to one side.

“What’s that supposed to mean Weiss?” Blake scolded as she made her way through the door and to my side. 

“Well, she left the formation, endangered herself and the rest of the flight, got shot down, and she’s been unconscious for almost two weeks!”

 

“Two weeks!” I yelled. Two weeks I was unconscious. Two weeks laying in a hospital bed, while my teammates worried about me.

“Yeah, two weeks.” Yang said softly, “But it’s okay, ‘cause you’re awake now!” Blake noticed my look of horror and grabbed my free hand. Her soothing touch calmed me immensely.

“So, Blake?” I asked

“Yes Ruby?” She responded, focusing her attention on me.

“What happened to you, why the crutches?”

“Well, I was bandaging you, and two footsoldiers snuck up on me. I got them but, well, they got me back.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t of just rushed into battle like that none of this would have happened.” Tears started to stream down my cheeks.

“It’s not your fault Ruby, I’m fine.” She leaned forward and embraced me, “It’s not your fault.” 

“Visiting hours over.” came a voice from the door. A nurse dressed in white stood in the doorway. “You two have to go back to your dorms.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see you tomorrow Rubes.” Yang called as she pulled Weiss out the door. After a few minutes, Blake pulled away from me.

“They uh… they found this at the crash site.” She said, reaching to the table beside the bed. In her hand was my flight helmet. It was a deep red, trimmed with black. The oxygen hose was badly torn, the mask ripped away from its connections, hanging only by a small amount of rubber. Blake handed it to me, and I turned it around to inspect it. Its HUD visor was cracked and broken in places, and the paint was chipped and peeling. Covering some of the paint was what looked to be dried blood, probably mine. On the front, where my codename Crescent Rose was written, a large gash was rent through the helmet, rendering some of the letters illegible. The result was Cres se. My name plate on the back of the helmet was also damaged. Where it had previously read “Lt. Cmdr. Rose” it now said “Lt. Cm R e”. From the damage to the helmet itself, one thing was clear: It had saved my life.

“Well, it looks like I won’t be using this anymore” I said with a small smile. Blake gave a small chuckle.

“Yeah, I brought you my spare to use.” She brought up another helmet from below the bed, handing it over to me. This helmet was black with purple trimming. Inscribed on the front was Blake’s codename: Gambol Shroud. On the back was her identification: Lt. Cmdr. Belladonna. I blushed slightly at the thought of the wearing the name. Ruby Belladonna, I liked it. ‘Woah there Ruby, slow down. Stop with those thoughts.’

“Thank you.” I said, turning back toward her.

“Don’t mention it, I don’t use it anyway, It doesn’t have any room for my ears.” She told me with a smile. “Well, I should let you rest. You have to heal.” She got up, grabbed her crutches, and started toward the door. 

“B-Blake.” I called after her.

“Yes, Ruby” she responded, stopping halfway to the door.

“Could you… stay with me tonight. I don’t want to have nightmares.”

“Of course, I would love too.” She turned around, making her way to the edge of the bed. Leaning on the bed, she dropped her crutches to the floor and laid down next to me.

“Good night Ruby” she whispered.

“Good night Blake.”


	4. Blake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. So new chapter, hope you guys like it. Thanks for the comments and Kudos, they really motivate me to keep this going, so thanks again.

Ch. 3 - Blake  
It had been just over three months since Ruby woke up. I had been by her side the entire time. Over the three months since she awoke, the two of us had been put through rigorous physical therapy to regain the muscle mass we were losing while healing. During the time we weren’t doing PT, we were in our shared hospital room. After the night she awoke, or “The Awakening” as Yang likes to call it, I slept with Ruby every night. I don’t really know when it actually happened, but at one point we started “dating.” If I had to pinpoint a moment when I first knew it had happened, it would have to be when we started kissing each other goodnight. That was about a month after The Awakening. Yang and Weiss found out when they walked in on us cuddling while watching a video on Ruby’s scroll. Now Yang won’t shut up about it.

Team JNPR had heard of the crash and sent a letter to us. They said that they were sorry to hear about what happened and they hoped that we would recover soon. The four of them had been accepted into the Huntsmen Corps’ elite ground and sea fighting unit. The unofficial nickname for the unit was the “Marine Corps” because of their attachment to the Navy. The Huntsmen Air Corps, us, would support them on any missions they embarked on. They also told us that they were being moved to a new location, but they couldn’t say where. They had previously been based at Signal Air Force Base.

Two months after The Awakening, Ozpin visited us. He told us that the bomber we shot down had been carrying an experimental munition that could have either destroyed the entire base, or fizzled out on the ground. Luckily, we shot it down before we had to find out. A few weeks after that, I was taken off crutches. I still had a limp, and I couldn’t walk very fast, but I no longer had to deal with those infernal sticks of doom.

At three months, we were told that we could return to light active duty within the week. And that brings us to the present. Currently Ruby and I were cuddled up in our bed for the last night of hospital stay. The smaller girl was pressed against my chest, her head tucked to my chest. I rested my chin on the top of her head, humming softly, as I always did. Music was playing quietly in the background. As we got closer we realized we both liked the same kind of music: Power Metal. I hummed along with the song as we started to drift asleep,

“Outside the battle raging death upon us,  
No surrender, unchained and free.  
Insanity will lead to blind destruction,  
Crush the evil, the foul disease.”  
Ruby shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable position.

“Our final destination, reborn in darkness,  
Watching and waiting, destroying with ease.  
The judgement day upon us, as dawn is breaking,  
Man kind will fall to the spineless deceived.”

Ruby joined in as the the song reached it’s chorus.

“Fly through the storm, power of the steel,  
Striking with vengeance, force them to kneel.  
Soldiers unite, force of the world,  
Fight ‘till the end, we will die by the sword.”

With that, Ruby yawned.

“Goodnight, Blake.” She said sleepily.

“Goodnight, Ruby.” I responded.

“I love you,” As she said it, I panicked. We had been “dating” for two months now, but we hadn’t said “it” yet.

“I- I love you too.” I stuttered. She seemed satisfied, and shortly afterward I heard her start to snore softly. I told myself I had to sleep as well, but I stayed up, thinking about the last two months. Finally, after pondering every detail of the last two months, I had my answer. “I love you, Little Rose.”

I awoke to find Ruby missing. I didn’t worry, she was probably in the bathroom. She always had to pee early in the morning, and she had gotten pretty adept at sneaking away from my grasp. I kicked the sheets off, and swung my legs to the side of the bed. My sidearm was placed on the nightstand, and I grabbed it, tucking it into the back of my pajama pants. Ruby’s red painted pistol was in it’s place beside mine, and I grabbed it too. I stood, careful not to put too much weight on my right leg. It had healed fine, but I still had a small limp. The doctor said it may never go away. The door opened and Ruby walked in, clad in her red pajamas.

“Hey, Blake!” She said excitedly as she saw me.

“Hey, think fast!” I responded, throwing her sidearm at her. She caught it, as she always did, and tucked it into her pants. I crossed over to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind as she made sure her G-suit was ready. “Good morning.” She leaned back into the embrace, resting her head on my shoulder.

“It is now.” She replied. She broke away after a few minutes, focusing back on her preparations. I moved back to my side of the bed, pulling my G-suit from under it, and started making my own adjustments. The room was silent, save for the sounds of us adjusting straps, and placing tools in pockets. The silence was soon interrupted by the door opening and Yang bursting in.

“Sup girls, ready for your first day out of the hospital!” She yelled as she jumped onto the bed.

“Yeah!” Ruby responded excitedly, clearly ready to leave. I smiled at her excitement.

“Yes we are. I just need to finish setting up my suit.” I told her.

“Alright! Weiss is already out on the flight line. You know the details, right?”

“Yup,” Ruby replied, “Ozpin briefed us yesterday.”

“Okay! I’ll see you two out there!” With that, Yang jumped from the bed, and walked out the door. After a few more seconds, I had finished with my suit and I turned to Ruby

“Ready?” I asked. She nodded in return, and we clasped hands, heading out the door. After a short walk down the hallway, we made it to the flight line. There, on the launch pad, stood a shiny new fighter. She was exactly like Black Rose, save for a few additions. The cockpit was uparmored, allowing it to withstand a few more rounds, and it had an upgraded radar warning receiver. Also replaced were the front facing cannons. The new guns were radar ranged and sighted, and the new ammunition was much more powerful than the old rounds. The new aircraft was of the same class, Huntsman, but it’s upgrades gave it the upper hand in battle. Just like it’s predecessor, it also had a fitting name: Ladybug.

Yang and Weiss stood by their fighter, IceFire. Both were dressed in their flight gear. Yang had a yellow G-suit, and her ever-present scarf. Inscribed on her helmet, in flamboyant yellow letters, was her codename: Ember Celica. Weiss stood to her left, idly checking over the fighter. Her white G-suit practically glowed in the sunlight. Her hair was tucked neatly into her helmet. Her codename was also visible: Myrtenaster.

“Are you two ready yet, we are supposed to be wheels up in twenty mikes.” Weiss scolded.

“Weiss, do you really think it’s going to take twenty minutes to get airborne?” I asked.

“You haven’t even done your preliminary checks yet, and not to mention getting used to the new aircraft.” She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

“It’s the same fighter Weiss,” Ruby piped up, “There’s not much to get used too. And the engineers already triple checked it, all we have to do is a quick once-over to make sure they pulled the intake plugs.”

“Hmph, skipping out on basic flight care again, are you?”

“Whatever, Icequeen.” I exclaimed, walking toward the craft.

“Hey!” Ruby and I climbed into the cockpit, settling ourselves into the seats, and began to run through the preflight checklist. I pulled my helmet onto my head and placed the mic in front of my mouth. Ruby did the same. Her helmet was still purple and black, but my codename was taped over, and scrawled almost illegibly in black ink was hers. She left the nameplate untouched, mostly because she knew I blushed whenever I saw it.

“Comms test, RWBY One-Two comms test, One-One how copy?” I said, keying my inter-cockpit comms.

“One-One, solid copy, Comms online, standby for engine start.” Ruby’s voice replied. A humm filled the air as the compression blades began to turn. Again, Ruby spoke.

“Tower, this is Rwby One-One, callsign Enfield 1, we are systems full and waiting for takeoff clearance, over.”

“Enfield 1, Beacon Tower, you are cleared for takeoff and departure, align on bearing Two-Niner-Zero for 30 miles and entry into Vale airspace. How copy?”

“Enfield 1, solid copy, bearing Two-Niner-Zero for 30 miles, out.” Ruby started to lift the fighter into the air. I looked behind me to see Yang doing the same. As we accelerated away from the pad, Yang took her place on our right wing.

“Enfield 2, Enfield 1, sitrep, over.” Ruby called, glancing toward her sisters craft.

“Enfield 1, Enfield 2, systems full, formation good, radar is clear, setting up inter-squadron comms, out.” Came the reply. I settled down into my seat, locking the turret guns forward, and began to scan the radar screens.

“Hey Rubes, you girls good?” Yang’s voice cut into my thoughts.

“We’re good, how are you two doing?” Ruby asked her.”

“Weiss is complaining, as usual,” she started, but was interrupted by Weiss yelling at her. A few moments later, the sound of yelling stopped. “Anyway, just checking in. I’m gonna leave the channel open, so if you need to talk to us, go ahead.”

“Will do Yang. We’re about to hit Vale airspace, so I’ll be silent for a few.”

“Copy that.” With that, she cut her mic, leaving us in silence.

“So, Ruby?” I spoke up.

“Yes, ma’am?” She responded.

“... You realize you don’t have to call me ‘ma’am’ right?”

“I do that, all the time, Blake… like, to everyone. Especially Jaune.”

“Anyway, why do you think we’re being rebased? Most of the Air Corps is still based at Beacon, so why are we being moved to Vale Air Force Base?” 

“I don’t know, Blake. My best guess is that is closer to the border than Beacon. If anything big happens, we can be there to stop it. Right?”

“But why us? They could have had anyone else do it.”

“I have no idea, but-” Ruby was interrupted by a crackle on the radio.

“Unidentified flight, you are now entering Vale airspace. Identify yourself.” Ruby keyed her radio, transmitting to the source of the radio call.

“This is Enfield Flight out of Beacon Huntsman Base. We have orders to rebase at Vale Air Force Base, over.”

“Standby Enfield flight.” After a few seconds the voice returned. “Enfield 1, please turn to bearing Three-One-Zero for connection with Vale Air Force Base. You are 200 miles out. Have a good flight.”

“Turning to bearing, Three-One-Zero. Thank you, out” Ruby settled down further into her seat. “Yang, you still there?” She asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Came the reply.

“We’re clear to Vale AFB, two hundred miles, bearing Three-One-Zero.”

“Alright, breaking now.”

As Ruby adjusted our flight path, I sighed. This was going to be a long flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. So I know what you are thinking, "The author skipped over the first kiss and shit, what a dick." I know right, I am a dick. I have plans for that shit later, don't worry. Now, the song there at the beginning was "Die by the Sword" by DragonForce. Yes, Blake and Ruby like power metal, get over it. Aight, see you later, Herperderper out.


	5. Jaune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. New chapter, hope you like. New perspective, it's kind of an experiment so just bear with me here.

Ch.4 -Jaune

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. I had been cleaning my rifle, basic care and all that. I looked up. Lie Ren stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. His arms were crossed over his chest, the sleeves of his blouse were rolled up to his elbows, showing the muscle that he had built up in training.

“What’s up?” I asked, setting down my now complete rifle.

“The girls want you to come out and watch the aircraft land. Apparently they’re some sort of VIPs.” he said calmly, shifting his weight to his other leg. He pulled his rifle from its position on his back and turned around. “Also, Pyrrha told me to tell you that if you don’t join us, she’s going to have you hit the obstacle course again.” With that, he walked out the door and away from the barracks.

“I’ll be out in a second!” I practically yelled after him. Though I was the team leader, and I had gotten much better since basic training, Pyrrha still made me train hard if I did something stupid. Quickly, I threw my rifle’s sling around my shoulder, and placed it behind my back. I stepped out of the barracks, into the harsh, mid-day sunlight. Shading my eyes, I followed Ren toward where the girls were standing. Already, I could hear the roar of jet engines, rolling across the hills near the base.

“Look who showed up!” Nora bubbled as we reached them. The aircraft were visible now. Two black dots were streaking in toward the runway from the south east. As they grew closer, I saw that one was red, and the other yellow.

“Anyone know who they are?” I asked the group.

“Nope!” Nora said excitedly, much like she always was.

“We were told that they were some sort of VIPs,” Pyrrha said. “But other than that, no.” We stood in silence for a few minutes watching the aircraft. Soon, it could be seen that they were Huntsman fighters. One was red and black, the other yellow and white. As they reached three miles from the runway, they dropped their landing gear. Both craft descended slowly, lined up expertly with the runway. The fighters reached the edge of the runway, flared, and settled onto the runway in unison, their tires squealing as they impacted the tarmac.

Both craft slowed, stopping halfway down the runway, near us. As they turned onto the taxiway, the names written below the red fighter’s cockpit became visible.

Lt. Cmdr. Ruby “Crescent Rose” Rose  
Lt. Cmdr. Blake “Gambol Shroud” Belladonna

“Guys, It’s team RWBY!” I exclaimed excitedly, “Let’s meet them at their hangars!” We turned, waving down a passing jeep, and hopped in. The driver followed the fighters as they taxied toward the hangers. The high pitched whine of the turbines, almost hidden by the roar of the exhaust, wavered as the two craft turned into a concrete hanger. As we jumped out of the jeep, the engines spun down, leaving the hanger in silence, except for the sound our footsteps. We approached the lead aircraft, standing side-by-side below the cockpit. The canopy lifted with a hiss, before rolling forward, revealing two helmets inside. I heard Ruby’s voice speak from the front helmet.

“Alright Blake, I’ll admit, 6 may be a good number, but 8 is just like 6, but the top is closed.” The two started to unstrap themselves from their seats.

“The closed top doesn’t add anything to the value of the number as a whole, Ruby.” Blake replied.

“It adds 2.” Ruby shot back. Phyrra and I looked at each other. At this point, Ruby and Blake had stood up in the cockpit, and were messing with various switches and knobs.

“That’s beside the point, Ruby. 6 is a better number because many military units have 6 members per squad. Also, if you just closed the top of a 6, you would have a really weird looking 8.” Blake scolded, swatting the younger pilot on the back of the helmet. I rolled my eyes.

“Uhm, Girls? I hate to interrupt, but, why are you arguing about numbers?” I asked.

“It’s been a looooooong flight.” Ruby said, pulling the purple and black helmet from her head, leaving her hair a mess. “First, they limited us to 220 knots because we were in civilian airspace, then, halfway to the airbase, they rerouted us for ‘traffic’ but the radar was clear. That flight would have taken me twenty minutes at cruising speed, but guess what. We took off four hours ago!!” She complained. “It’s nice to see you guys though, I can guess why we were transferred now.” She jumped down from the cockpit and ran toward me. She engulfed me in a hug, throwing me off balance.

“Woah, Ruby!” I fell on my butt.

“Ah, come on Jaune! I haven’t seen you since basic. I missed you guys!”

“Well, we missed you too.” I said, patting her head. I looked back up toward Blake. She was still standing in the cockpit. She pulled her helmet off to reveal her faunus ears. “Going without the bow, Blake?” I asked.

“Yeah, I stopped wearing it a few weeks into flight training, It didn’t fit in the helmet very well.” She said, clambering down the side of the fighter. The sound of footsteps caused me to turn around, dislodging Rub from her perch on my chest.

“But what about 7, it’s right in between you two’s stupid numbers.” Yang said, strolling toward us.

“Do you know of anything that uses the number 7 tactically, Yang?” Came Weiss’ voice, as the heiress followed the blonde.

“Not you as well.” Pyhrra groaned.

“Hey look Weiss, It’s team JNPR!” Yang said, turning to her partner.

“I can see them you dolt, they’re right there.” Weiss scolded the blonde pilot before turning back toward us. “Hello, how have you been?” She asked.

“We have been well,” Pyrrha responded, “We were transferred here a couple months ago, and we’ve been training since then.”

“Well, at least you’ve been training.” Weiss said, looking pointedly at Ruby.

“I’ve been stuck in the hospital, it’s not my fault!” She almost yelled.

“Well, technically-” 

“Weiss,” Yang cut her off. “That’s enough.” Weiss grumbled an acknowledgement, crossing her arms.

“We should probably start unpacking.” Blake spoke up, interrupting the growing silence. The other three nodded in agreement, moving toward their aircraft. Suddenly, the sound of an alarm screeched across the base.

“All units, Grimm attack on the western fence line, all units…” The PA system announced. I grabbed Pyrrha, pulling her with me as I ran out of the hanger. I rounded the corner, and got a view of the attack. A mass of Grimm were sprinting, full force a the fence. A handful of guards stood in defensive positions, trying their best to stop the attack.

“Come on!” I yelled to Ren and Nora.

“Yang, Weiss, scramble, meet up at angels 2, counter clockwise orbit at 2 klicks, go!” Ruby yelled, climbing into her cockpit, closely followed by Blake.

“Fix bayonets!” I yelled to my team, pulling the 9 inch bayonet from its sheath and fixing it to the barrel of my rifle. “Pyrrha, start taking any shots you can make, get up to that watch tower!” I ordered, pointing to a watchtower on the edge of the base.”Ren, Nora, follow me, I need suppressing fire on those Grimm, we need to cover Pyrrha to the tower!”

“Got it!” Nora said, readying her Automatic Rifle.

“Push!” I yelled, surging forward toward the edge of the base. The sounds of gunfire and screaming were almost drowned out by the roars of the Grimm. Nora’s rifle clattered to life, spraying lead into the Grimm ranks. Ren and I ran toward the fence line, with Pyrrha right behind us, using Nora’s gun fire to cover our advance. As I reached twenty yards in front of Nora, I stopped. I planted my knee in the grass, and started to fire my rifle. It wasn’t as impressive as Nora’s long bursts, but the single shots were more accurate and deadly, sending Grimm after Grimm to the ground. Ren and Pyrrha continued the advance, sprinting headlong toward the watchtower. Soon, they reached twenty yards in front of me and stopped, firing into the mass of Grimm.

“Nora, bound!” I yelled over the gunfire. The girl heard, getting up from her position and sprinting forward. As she moved, she dropped the magazine in her weapon and loaded a full one. She passed me at a dead sprint, continuing forward toward Ren and Pyrrha. As she passed them, Pyrrha ran after her, continuing her advance toward the watchtower.

“Jaune!” Nora yelled as she stopped running and started to fire. Grunting, I jumped forward, sprinting toward the edge. I reloaded while running, preparing for my next volley. I passed Ren and tapped his shoulder, letting him know that he would be next to move. The wall of Grimm was growing as fast as we could cut it down. Ursa were pouring from the surrounding forests, accompanied by beowolves.

Pyrrha followed the pattern as I passed, shadowing me as I ran. I reached my new position and hit the deck, allowing Pyrrha to use my left shoulder as a gun rest. I yelled for Ren to move, and started firing into the hordes. The radio crackled, forcing me to push Pyrrha off my shoulder to listen.

“Enfield flight is in the air, We need coords for a gun run, over.” Ruby’s voice filled my headset.

“Enfield, we need a run on the West fence line. Be advised, danger close, over.” I called.

“Copy, gun run, West fence line. I’ll be coming in on a North-South line, over.”

“Solid copy. Give ‘em hell! Out.” Ren passed me, bringing Pyrrha with him. I did a quick distance check, noting that this would be the last bound we would make before Pyrrha would climb the tower. Between shots, I could hear the engines of the fighters roar as they positioned themselves for a strafing run.

“Jaune!” Ren called. Again I stood, sprinting toward him. Pyrrha was already climbing the watchtower, so I grabbed Nora as I passed, pulling her along with me. We reached Ren and took cover beside him. As we looked, the two fighters started to make their run. High Explosive rounds slammed into the Grimm ranks, blowing them to pieces and scattering those that weren’t killed instantly. The onslaught stopped as quickly as it started, and was quickly followed by the rapid “thump, thump” of the aerial cannons firing at distance. The first craft passed over the carnage, breaking hard toward us to clear itself from the others firing path. Just as Ruby passed over us, Yang’s cannon rounds started to impact, decimating any Grimm left alive after the first run. Just as the cannon fire stopped, a large explosion erupted from the center of the pile of Grimm. We heard the report of the cannons, as well as the loud “POP” of a rocket being fired from it’s pod. Slowly the gunfire started to cease. The Grimm attack had been stopped, but something didn’t feel right.

“Stay on watch,” I yelled to Pyrrha, “I have a feeling that this isn’t over.” Ren, Nora and I scanned the tree line, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The attack had been too sudden. Most Grimm attacks started gradually, as the smaller Grimm reached the fence line first. Battles started to escalate slowly after that, often ending with an Alpha. But today, they had thrown all they had at us in the first wave, and no Alpha was seen. Suddenly, I heard a rumble over hilltops.

“I hear something!” Pyrrha yelled from her watchtower. Over the treetops, the sound grew closer. A bullhead transport rose up from the trees, slowly flying toward the base. Three more followed it, rising over the trees. The symbol of the White Fang was emblazoned on their noses. The guns mounted below the cockpits started to blaze, sending bullets toward the base and it’s personnel.

“Contact!” I yelled, bringing my rifle up and peppering the craft. Gunfire erupted from the other units on the fence line. Before the craft could clear the treeline, four vapor trails streaked over our heads, slamming into the bullheads and blowing them to pieces. The four burning hulks fell, blowing up on the ground. Enfield flight flew through the smoke, each breaking in a different direction. Ruby’s red fighter came around, making two victory rolls over the base, quickly followed by Yang, who did the same.

“All units, stay in defensive formations, command wants patrols for the next two hours, over.” A voice crackled over the radio. I groaned loudly. This was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So earlier I posted the first chapter of a new fic, and asked you guys if you wanted it continued. The answer was a resounding yes, so i'll be working on that as well. It will probably slow down AoA a little, and I'll try to post one chapter of AoA and then one of Heart of a Dragon. I renamed it because the other title didn't feel right. Aight, I'll see you in the next chapter. Herperderper out.


	6. Jaune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey peeps, Herperderper here. So I got the next chapter of Heart of a Dragon up, yay. You guys really seem to like it, so thanks for all the comments and Kudos. Sorry it was so late, I had a rifle competition and totally forgot to bring my laptop charger. That's right, I brought the laptop, but not the charger. But hey, I placed, so that's good. Anywho, new chapter of AoA here, it's a pretty chill chapter for now. I wanna set some things up before I really get stuff rolling, so enjoy!

Sighing, I climbed the ladder up to my bunk and collapsed onto it. We had been on alert for two hours after the fight, and on patrol for another hour. Afterward, the girls unpacked and moved into our barracks. General Ironwood, the CO of Vale AFB, had them stay in our room, as there was a shortage of bunk space. Currently, the four were asleep, along with Ren and Nora, who had collapsed on their shared bunk half an hour ago. Pyrrha and I, however, had made a report to the General.

“My legs hurt.” I complained as Pyrrha climbed up after me. She rolled over me, causing me to grunt in discomfort.

“Sorry.” she said, smiling. I could tell she wasn’t. She pulled off her blouse, untucking the undershirt beneath it, and draped it over the backside of the bunk. Her pants were next, revealing the military issue underwear she wore.

“Nice skivvies.” I commented. 

“Shut up and start dressing down. You know the General doesn’t like when you sleep in your fatigues.” She retorted, pulling the covers over herself. Sighing again, I did as I was told, pulling off my blouse and pants, and draping them across the backside of the bunk. I rolled onto my left side, placing my arm under the pillow, and pulled the covers up. Pyrrha place her right hand on my shoulder, her left on the sidearm she always had on her, and was soon asleep.

I yawned, looking out over the room. Across from me, in the upper bunk, lay Ruby and Blake, huddled together beneath the covers, each with one side of a pair of earbuds. I could only guess what they were listening to. ‘Probably classical or something, knowing Blake.’ I thought. Yang had told me they were “dating” earlier today. When I asked her about the air quotes, she just said it wasn’t important.

Below them, Yang and Weiss were laying on the opposite corners of the mattress from each other. No surprise there, those two were polar opposites. I guess they were assigned together because Weiss was able to stop Yang’s reckless fighting habits. As I watched, Yang grunted and rolled over, her hand landing on Weiss’ stomach. It was quickly thrown off, and the heiress scooted even farther away from her partner. I chuckled at the display.

Below me, though I couldn’t see them, I knew Ren was laying calmly in his bunk, with Nora almost wrapped around him. Poor guy couldn’t get away from his energetic partner, even in his sleep. I had a sneaking suspicion that he liked it though.

‘I should probably get some sleep, Pyrrha has us training tomorrow.’ I rolled onto my back, Pyrrha’s hand falling onto my chest, and closed my eyes.

 

The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the building. Ranging from 9mm pistol, to .338 magnum rounds. I walked into the range, putting on my ear protect, and followed the line down to toward an open firing lane. As I walked, I passed Weiss, who was firing down her lane with her father’s Boar .44 Magnum repeating pistol. Next to her was Yang, with another Boar, this one chambered in .50 Express. Slightly farther down, Blake and Ruby were competing against each other, Blake’s standard 9mm pistol however, was no match for Ruby’s .45 caliber. The only way she kept up with the younger girl, was with the rate she could fire. Her larger magazine helped her stay almost neck and neck with Ruby, even though one in five of her shots missed, and it sometimes took two to put a target down. Ruby, however, was calmly placing shot after shot into her targets, pausing every seven to change magazines. 

I stopped, enthralled by the focus of the two girls. Casings littered the floor, indicating that they had been shooting quite a while. While I watched, Ruby stopped firing, the slide of her pistol locked back as the magazine emptied. She dropped the magazine, closed the slide, and placed both the mag and the gun on the table. Half a second later, Blake did the same.

“It seems I win, Blakey!” Ruby said excitedly. 

“I still don’t know how you managed to take 15 mags from the armory without them noticing.” She replied, smiling softly.

“I have my ways, I’m faster than I look.” the shorter girl told her.

“Im sure its all the cookies.” Blake laughed. “Now, how will you cash in that win?” 

“Oh, I think you know exactly what I want.” Ruby whispered seductively, and I started to feel uncomfortable. Blake just sighed.

“And where do you expect me to find 1,000 pounds of strawberries, Ruby?”

“I guess you better start looking!”

“I challenge winner.” I spoke up. Both girls turned to me. 

“Name your terms.” Ruby challenged.

“Rifle against rifle, you can borrow one from the armory. First to knock down all the targets at 400 meters.” 

“And the stakes?” Blake asked.

“Shower privileges. If I win, I shower first, if she wins, vise versa.”

“Done. Blake, would you get me a rifle please?”

“Why don’t you get one yourself?”

“Uhmm…” Ruby mumbled, looking down at her feet. “They don’t like me right now.”

“It’s about the mags, isn’t it?”

“Yeeeeaaaahhhh…” came the reply. Blake sighed again.

“Yes, Ruby, I will. But only because I love you.” She turned and started to make her way toward the armory. I nudged Ruby with my elbow.

“Why did you take 15 mags anyway?” I asked.

“I had to beat Blake in the competition.” she said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but why 15? Couldn’t you cut down the amount of targets?”

“Pfft no! Why would I do that?”

“Nevermind.” I had learned back in Basic Training not to question Ruby’s motives. Blake returned soon after, handing Ruby a basic rifle and 5 magazines. I pushed the button for the 400 meter targets, and 30 popped up on each firing line.

“Gotta knock down each target before moving on. You ready?” I asked, preparing my rifle.

“You bet!” She responded. I brought the rifle up, taking a crouching stance, and turned to Blake.

“On your count.”

“3!” she counted off. I placed the reticle on the target.

“2!” I maneuvered the “4” in the scope to the center of the target’s chest.

“1!” Slowly, I took a breath, letting it out smoothly.

“Fire!” I squeezed the trigger. As the target fell, I transitioned to the next, repeating the process. Round followed round, hit after hit. Targets fell quickly, not one taking more than one shot. The shots landed within inches of the center of the target, the force causing the mechanisms to pull them down. I soon reached the last target. A deep breath, a slow exhale, a blink, a squeeze of the trigger, and…

“Ruby wins!” Blake called. My scope jumped, and the last shot went high, landing hundreds of meters behind the target. I looked up, Ruby stood smiling beside me, her rifle held across her chest, its muzzle downrange. 

“How?” It was all I could ask.

“You were neck and neck until the last target, she shot halfway through your breath.” Blake explained.

“You forget, Jaune, I was always better than you. It’s what I grew up doing.” Ruby chimed in.

“Well,” I said, “I guess you shower first.” 

“Aw yeah!” she jumped up and down. ‘Still just as excitable as a puppy I see.’ Chuckling, I rose up from my crouched position. Suddenly, a rifle dropped onto my right shoulder. ‘Oh shit!’

“You lost to a pilot Jaune.” A calm voice spoke behind me.

“I’m sorry Pyrrha! I underestimated her, I won’t do it again!” I squeaked.

“Hmm, maybe you weren’t steady enough. Let’s test that.” The rifle was pushed forward on my shoulder, settling into a firing position.

“Yes Ma’am.” I said, standing rock still. Silence followed, but it was interrupted by the report of the rifle firing. The remaining target dropped as the round hit it center mass.

“No, you seem steady enough, maybe it was just your speed. I can fix that, if you would like.” she said, still calm. I knew there was only one answer.

“Yes Ma’am.” she seemed to think it over.

“Maybe later. For now, we have been ordered to report to General Ironwood. You as well Ruby, bring your team.” With that, she turned around and walked out. Ruby leaned over to me.

“For as polite as she is, Pyrrha is a scary lady.” she whispered, seemingly unwilling to have Pyrrha hear her.

“She’s only like that when it comes to training. She’s nice any other time.” I told her. “I guess we should probably go.” 

“Right behind you.” She said. As she walked she turned toward where Yang and Weiss were still shooting. “YANG!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, chapter done... What'd ya think? Good, bad, in the middle, slightly off to the left? God forbid it be to the right... As I said, chill chapter, just some training and Pyrrha. I had an idea for an informative chapter, to get you used to the lingo and stuff that I'm using in the story, so if you want something like that, go ahead and tell me so I can set it up... until then, have a good one. Herperderper out.


	7. Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, Herperderper back again. Here with another chapter of AoA. This will be the last "chill" chapter for a while... shit's gonna get interesting... hopefully. Got some small fluff ahead, that I had a surprisingly hard time writing. I guess I'm not really the mushy type. Anywho, enjoy the chapter.

General Ironwood’s office was a plain room, decorated only with a large map table. The walls were white, the floor carpeted, and there was plenty of lighting. Ren and Nora already stood in front of the General’s desk, their backs facing us. All six of us moved to join them, saluting the General who stood behind the desk.

“At ease.” he said, and we rocked into a parade rest stance. “I have gathered you to inform you all that you will be attending tomorrow night’s Huntsmen Corps Ball.” Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but Ironwood cut her off. “While it is unusual that Junior officers such as yourself are invited to this Ball, Major General Ozpin and Brigadier General Goodwitch thought, based off of your experiences, that RWBY flight should attend, and I believe that team JNPR should as well.” 

“Aye Aye Sir!” We called in unison.

“Good. The Ball starts at 1800 hours, don’t be late. Dismissed.” Again we saluted, before turning on our heels and marching out the door. After we exited the hallway, we all turned to each other. Yang was the first to break the silence.

“This is going to be AWESOME! I’ve always wanted to go to the Ball. Dad said they were so much fun!”

“Yeah!” I agreed enthusiastically. The Huntsmen Corps Ball was an annual party to celebrate the Corps’ birthday. Only senior officers and experienced soldiers were invited, though the rest celebrated on their own.

“So… Class As?” Jaune asked.

“I hope not.” I replied, horrified at the thought. “If I have to wear my Alphas someone is going to die.” Blake place her hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll start making the funeral arrangements, because you have to wear your Alphas.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I yelled dramatically. “Seriously though, Alphas suck.” Everyone nodded, agreeing with the consensus.

“But you know why they’re called Class As right?” Yang started. Everyone groaned, knowing what was about to happen. “Because they’re class-ay!”

“I’m leaving.” Weiss growled, turning on her heel.

“Aw, come on Princess, do my puns not suit you?”

“Yeah, no, I’m following her.” I said, turning to follow Weiss.

“I second that.” Blake stated, pursuing the two of us.

“They weren’t that bad.” Yang muttered, downcast. “Wait up!” She followed us as we headed toward the barracks. I followed Weiss through the barracks door, immediately heading toward my bunk, and jumped up. Blake followed me up, laying her head on my back as she reached the top.

“You’re comfy.” She stated. I just hummed in agreement.

“Alright, I’m gonna hit the rack. See you in the mornin’ ladies.” Yang called from below us.

“Night, Yang!” I responded.

“Good night.” Blake said, not lifting her head from my back. I rolled over, disturbing her, and let her lay her head on my chest.

“Night, Blakey.”

“Good night, little Rose. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

 

“Do I really have to wear the Alphas?” I asked for probably the fifteenth time in five minutes.

“Yes, Ruby, you do. Even Yang will be wearing them.” Blake said patiently.

“Bullshit, she’ll find a way out of it.” I said, sighing again. 

“Hey, language.” she scolded. “I’m sure Weiss will find a way to force her to wear them.” 

“You’re probably right.” Blake was kneeling in front of me, tucking my uniform in correctly, and making sure it looked correct. The sound of the door opening caused us both to look.

“Hey nerds.” Yang said, walking straight past us and opening the door to the bathroom. “Bye nerds.” She called before disappearing into it. After a short pause to process what just happened, Blake continued to mess with my uniform. A few minutes later she stood.

“Alright done. Go get your tie you tie.” she said.

“Uhm, B-Blake?” I stuttered.

“You don’t know how to tie a tie, do you?” she asked softly.

“No…” I told her.

“It’s ok, just bring it to me, I’ll tie it for you.” I thanked her quickly before turning around and grabbing the olive tie from the bunk. She took it from my hand and tied it quickly around my neck. As she finished, she gave me a quick kiss, and pushed me back onto the bunk.

“Stay there while I get dressed, okay.”

“Yeah, okay.” I responded. I could hear Yang in the shower, and the rustling of Blake as she dressed. They relaxed me as I waited, and soon Blake was shaking me awake.

“Hey, ready to go?”

“Yeah.” I sat up and rolled off of the bunk. Reaching over to the bedside table, I grabbed the holsters and guns. “Catch.” I called to Blake, throwing her gun to her.

“Thanks.” We both strapped the drop-leg holsters on top of our dress pants, and Blake held the door open for me. “My lady.” She bowed, before holding her arm out for me. I took it, and we walked out of the barracks. The ball was held in the base’s ball-room. Though it was small, most of the base’s officers could fit in it for the event.

As we grew closer, the sound of music filled the air. We reached the door, and pushed through it. The building was filled with people, most in uniform, but others, civilians, in dresses and tuxes. Across the dance floor, I could already see Yang and Weiss. The latter seemed to be in deep conversation with another officer. His blue dyed hair made him stick out from the rest of the crowd. ‘Tank crewman probably, with the non-regulation hair color.’ Yang, however, seemed to be flirting mercilessly with any single officer she could find. Blake and I looked at each other. She shrugged, before taking my hand and leading me toward the two. As we approached, a blonde faunus snuck up on the blue haired officer, and grabbed his hips.

“Hey Nep!” he said loud enough for us to hear. ‘Nep’ jumped, obviously not expecting the other’s antics.

“Damn, Sun, you scared the crap outta me!” He almost yelled. The blonde was bent over laughing, obviously happy with the other’s reaction.

“Ah come on man!” he said between laughing fits. “It’s just me.” The two seemed to be friends, probably teammates. They continued to laugh with each other as Blake and I reached Weiss.

“Hey Weiss!” I greeted her.

“Ruby.” She nodded. Her hair was up in a side ponytail, much like it was when we first met in basic training, though not as long, as she had cut it to fit in the helmet. She had her holster strapped to her left leg, and her family’s ceremonial sword strapped to her right hip.

“Making new friends already, I see.” Blake smiled.

“So it seems. They operate a Knight model Atlesian Battle Tank.”

“Called it.” I muttered.

“What was that Ruby?” Weiss asked.

“I said ‘that’s cool’”

“Well, I’m going to get at least one dance out of Ruby before the end of the night.” Blake said. “And I know if we wait too long, she won’t do it.” She grabbed me by the hand, and spun me out onto the dance floor. I smiled, placing my hands on her shoulders, and we started to sway to the music. Blake learned two months ago that that’s how far my dancing got. Suddenly the music stopped. It was replaced by the gruff voice of General Ironwood.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I regret to inform you that the festivities will have to be cut short. Will all non-military personnel please exit the building?” The hall was filled with muttering as the civilians said goodbye to their escorting officers, and left the building.

“Tonight…” he began again, “at 1700 hours, Huntsman Corps Air Station Signal was attacked by Mistralian forces. This attack was shortly followed by a declaration of war by Mistral High Council. HCAS Signal received heavy losses, but managed to hold strong against opposing forces. Tomorrow, you will all be briefed on the situation further. Please return to your barracks’ and get some sleep. Briefing will begin at 0900 in the meeting hall. Dismissed.” I turned back to Blake, and spotted the look of shock on her face. I drew her into a hug. This was going to get interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter done, what'd ya think. I know, I'm not really good at the relationship stuff. I guess I'm lucky mines working out, because I would have a hell of a time trying again. Well, please leave a comment telling me what you think, or if you have any suggestions. 'Till next time, Herperderper out.


	8. Marksman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, I am really sorry for the wait. The last month has been fucking terrible for me. Bunch of bullshit been happening, but it should be fixed now, so these chapters will come out quicker. Again, sorry for the wait, but here it is.

Ch. 7 - Marksman

With a sigh, I pulled my head from the stock of the rifle. The prey was smart, hiding behind the walls of their puny encampment. Using only cameras and periscopes to view out. Two Knight ABTs stood guard, guns leveled on the horizon, while multiple guards stared into the distance. Maybe it was time to cause a little havoc. A shot or two should panic them, but I would have to ask for permission.

“Haven, Eagle-eye, The guards are on constant watch, requesting permission to shake things up a little, over” 

“Eagle-eye, Haven.” A smooth male voice came in over the radio. “Request granted. Just make sure you lose them before you return to the FOB, out.” With that out of the way, I could focus on my targets. The first was the most important. It was vital to aim it at an authoritative figure, an officer perhaps, or maybe a sergeant. The next was less important, it would hit whoever was stupid enough to remain visible. I scanned over the encampment, searching for a target. My scope slid from arm to arm, searching for the highest ranking patch.

The Vale military was one of the largest powers in the world, but they lacked intelligence on certain occasions. One of which was the clear marking of rank. Soon I found the highest rank. A Gunnery Sergeant. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. As I emptied my lungs, I squeezed the trigger and the rifle went off. The soldier never even knew what happened. His legs collapsed and he ended up in a heap on the ground. This sent the rest of the soldiers running for cover, and I looked for an opportune target. As my scope slid over one of the tanks, its hatch popped open. Its commander poked his head out, looking around in confusion. I took the opportunity and pulled the trigger. The commander’s head slumped forward, and blood started to flow from the wound on his chest.

I lifted the rifle from its rest, noting the stove-piped casing in its action. ‘Damn, semi-autos. Always jamming. This is exactly why I use a bolt.’ As quietly as possible, I snuck my way back through the forest, toward the recently set up Forward Operating Base Autumn. ‘If this is the best defense the Vale Army can put up, this will be an easy war.’

***Woah, a Line Break***

Blake

Ruby groaned and pressed herself into my chest. Her arms wrapped tightly around me and I found it hard to breath. The girl’s deceptively small form hid a lot of strength.

“Hey, Rubes?” I asked softly. She whimpered and hugged me tighter. “Shh, It's okay. I’m here with you.” I whispered into her ear. The bunk rocked, and Yang’s head popped up from below us.

“Is she… you know?” she asked, looking worried.

“Yeah, nightmare.” I whispered. She reached forward and laid her hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“She’ll calm down in a few minutes. She… She’s had nightmares ever since her mother died. We were both in the car… we’re so lucky we survived, but Summer was trapped in her seat. She… The firefighters tried to get her out, but they couldn’t get her in time. Ruby was devastated for a year. That’s when I started to sleep in her bed with her. It made her feel better. Now I’m just glad you are there for her, especially when I’m not. Thanks Blake.” She finished, still looking sadly at her sister. “Just remember, if you do anything to hurt her, I’ll send Weiss after your ass.” I smiled, toward her.

“You know I would never do that.” I told her, still hugging Ruby tightly.

“I know, I just have to do the obligatory big sister spiel. You know how it goes.” She smiled brightly, before looking back down to Ruby. “See, better already. Just remember, don’t ask her about it in the morning. She’ll get all defensive and won’t want to talk about it. She’ll talk when she’s ready, okay.”

“I won’t.” I promised.

“Good, see you in the morning, big day tomorrow.” With that she disappeared back down to her bunk. I rolled onto my back, bringing Ruby with me to lay on my chest. With a sigh, I closed my eyes. ‘Tomorrow is going to be a looooong day.’ 

***Line Break Again***

“As you all know, last night at 1800 hours, HCAS Signal was attacked by Mistralian forces. Intelligence suggests that leading the attack was Haven Company, Mistrals most experienced and ruthless combat unit. During the night, snipers have harassed HCAS Signal, and in one final push at 0100 this morning, the Air Station fell to Mistralian forces.” General Ironwood stood before the assembled mass of Huntsmen. It seemed as though he hadn’t slept last night, likely awaiting news from the station.

“I have assembled a series of harassment strikes from aircraft, meant to keep the enemy on it’s toes until the ground forces can arrive. Pilots and aircrew, please look at the Sortie board to find your departure time. Every squadron and flight will participate in this operation, four aircraft at a time. Ground forces will board transport craft at 0945. First Battalion will board transport vessel Dust Mage, while Second Battalion will board the vessel Dust Wizard. The remaining troops shall stay to defend AFB Vale. Operation Ground And Pound will commence in 15 Mikes. All dismissed.”

“Aye Aye Sir!” The halls echoed with the call from the assembled troops. Weiss, Yang, and I followed Ruby’s lead to the Sortie board.

“Looks like we are the second wave, Wheels up in 1 hour. Gear up ladies.” Ruby ordered. We followed her back to the barracks and within 45 minutes, we were ready to fly. We walked out on the tarmac, heading toward our aircraft, which were currently being fueled and serviced for the flight.

“Bulldog flight, Lancer flight, your aircraft are ready and waiting on the taxiway.” The P.A. system announced.

“Come on RWBY flight, let’s go kick some butt!” We separated, running toward our different aircraft. I followed Ruby toward Ladybug. We climbed into the cockpit, and completed the start-up procedures.

“Bulldog flight, this is Lancer flight, looks like we’ll be leading this sortie, so it seems introductions are in order. I am Colonel Coco Adel, my backseater over here is Lieutenant Colonel Yatsuhashi Daichi. Over in the number two we have Lieutenant Colonel Velvet Scarlatina, and Lieutenant Colonel Fox Alistair.”

“Good morning, Lancer flight. Nice to meet you all, I’m Lieutenant Commander Ruby Rose, my backseater is Lieutenant Commander Blake Belladonna, the number two is Lieutenant Yang Xiao-Long, and Lieutenant Weiss Schnee.”

“Well, now that we know who we all are, Lancer 1-1 requesting takeoff clearance on Runway One-Eight, for Lancer, and Bulldog Flights, over.

“Lancer, Bulldog, you are clear for takeoff on Runway One-Eight, Vector on bearing Zero-Eight-Four to reach target, out.”

“How copy, Bulldog?” Lancer 1-1 asked.

“Bulldog copies all. Shall we turn fuel to fire?” Ruby asked, looking excited.

“Of course, throttles to the firewall, kicking it into burner.” I was thrown back in my seat as the aircraft leaped forward. Looking to my left, I saw both aircraft from Lancer flight. They were both painted a dull golden brown. To my right, IceFire kept pace with us, rolling its way down the tarmac. I settled into my seat as the tires left the runway, preparing for the long flight.

***Suddenly Line Break***

“Lancer beginning dive.” Coco called to us.

“Bulldog following, Blake get the pods ready, Bulldog 2-1 prepare for munitions release.”

“Copy.”

“Wilco.” I flicked the master arm switch and armed the trigger for the 3 inch rocket pods.

“Pods ready.” I called. The clouds whipped past as we dove. Soon, the white turned to blue as we exited the cloud layer.

“Two runs. One with munitions, one with guns.” Coco informed us. “Weapons release in 30 seconds.” We followed her lead, staying in line as we closed the distance toward HCAS Signal.

“Standby, 5, 4, 3, 2, release!” Rockets fired from their pods, landing within the base’s walls, wreaking havoc on the infantry on the ground. “Pull up in 3, 2, pull.” The G forces on my body increased as Ruby pulled the aircraft out of the dive.

“20 degree climb. Cloud layer in 5, 4, 3, 2, passing cloud layer.” Right in time with the count, our surroundings turned pure white. I looked toward Yang, but couldn’t see her aircraft.

“20 degrees port bank, 3, 2, bank. Hold attitude, passing angels 5. Bearing 1-8-5… 1-8-0… 1-7-5… level wings in 3, 2, level.” Coco guided us through maneuvers over the radio, making sure we didn’t break formation or lose contact with her. We broke through the cloud layer to the blue sky above.

“Formation, come about. Hard turn to port, breaking in 3, 2, breaking.” Coco stood her fighter on it’s wing, turning hard back the way we came. Fox followed shortly after. I gripped my stick as Ruby rolled us on our side and turned to re-form with the others. After we regrouped, Coco directed us in again.

“Entering 5 degree dive in 3, 2, dive.” We pushed over, and the clouds came rushing up toward us. “Cloud layer in 5, 4, 3, 2, cloud layer.”

“Ruby,” I said. “They’re going to be wary this time. Watch out for flak.”

“Wilco!” She called over her shoulder. The clouds stopped and were replaced with black puffs of flak fire.

“Fire!” Coco instructed. Guns thumped all around us, but were drowned out by the loud pops of our own. I could see tracers slam into the base. They struck barriers, buildings, weapons, and vehicles, severely damaging everything they hit. Infantry ran for cover, scattering from the center of the impacts. I squeezed the trigger on my turret guns, listening to the rhythmic sound of guns firing and casings clinking. With a push of the joystick, I adjusted my aim to a fuel truck sitting near the center of the compound. Rounds sparked off of its armor, before it detonated, causing a brilliant explosion.

“Pull!” I was pulled down into my seat as Ruby dragged the nose of the fighter back toward the sky. The thump of our guns ceased as we passed the compound, but the puffs of flak continued to surround us. Coco had us enter a 30 degree climb, making a sprint for the clouds. I looked to the left just in time to catch Fox’s aircraft jump as a shell detonated directly under it. A small amount of smoke pushed it’s way out of several holes in the airframe. Before I could see anything else, the other aircraft was hidden by a mass of clouds.

“Damage report, Lancer 1 no damage.” Coco said.

“Lancer 2 took a hit, but it seems superficial.” Came a calm reply.

“Bulldog 1, no damage.”

“Bulldog 2, no damage.”

“Good, continue climbing to angels 30, we’ll make our w-” She was cut off by a panicked voice.

“Lancer 2 has lost supplemental air! We need to dive now!”

“Dive Lancer 2, Bulldog continue climb, I’ll cover 2.” We broke through the clouds just in time to see the others invert and dive toward the ground, back into the clouds. I leaned forward, placing my hand on Ruby’s shoulder. 

“We better keep an eye out up here, they might send interceptors.” She nodded.

“Yang, keep an eye out for interceptors. Level in 3, 2, level.” We continued onward, eyes scanning the horizon for enemy fighters. The sunlight glared off of the cockpit, causing me to lose sight of a 10 degree area to our right.

“Ruby, roll it starboard a little. I’ve got some glare.” She complied, dipping the wing so that the light struck at a different angle, allowing me to see. “It’s clear, roll back.” The wings once again became level. I sighed, turning to look out the other side of the canopy. When I saw nothing, I locked my eyes onto my radar screen. Again I saw nothing. ‘And now for the boring part; egress.’ I thought. Sighing again, I settled into my seat, switching through the camera modes on my turret controls.

***Er Mer Gerd: Line Break***

“Bulldog! Lancer! We have 4 interceptors on our ass! They’re still a couple miles out, and they expended their missiles but we can’t turn and fight them.” Coco’s unusually frightened voice filled our ears.

“Copy that, Bulldog is diving.” We quickly inverted and dove our way into the clouds. “Yang, if you can get a lock fire, but there is going to be a shit-ton of ground clutter, so I won’t expect a lock. Make sure any shots you make are going to strike. Remember, Boom and Zoom, we can’t turn with those interceptors at this speed.”

“Wilco.” Came Yang’s reply. The clouds opened around us, and we could see six small dots silhouetted against the ground. The two farthest in front were being caught up to by the four behind.

“I can’t get a lock.” Weiss called.

“Neither can I.” I informed Ruby. 

“Alright, guns it is. Yang, they’re in a finger four, focus down the second element leader. Weiss, see what you can do about the wingman, I’ll take flight lead, Blake on number 2.”

“Copy.”

“Copy.”

“Copy.” We closed the distance quickly, diving down upon the unsuspecting aircraft. I locked my guns in on a lead angle for the number two pilot, ready to engage.

“Fire.” Ruby called. Again the cockpit was filled with the sounds of gunfire. I watched tracers fly and rounds spark on armor, reassuring me that the guns were aimed correctly. Out the corner of my eye, I watched Ruby’s target fold up like a paper airplane when she struck it’s wing root. It’s wing ripped away from the fuselage, spiraling toward the ground with a trail of fire and fuel. We pulled away before I could do any serious damage to my target. We entered a 50 degree climb, turning all the energy we had back into altitude, and prepared to strike again.

“I got mine, but Weiss couldn’t get a good angle.” Yang informed us.

“Same thing here, prepare to dive again.” We rolled over again, diving on our prey below, but we were met with a surprise.

“I only see one!” I yelled.

“Me too.” Ruby replied. She adjusted her path to target the remaining fighter. Guns thumped and rounds struck, sending the interceptor to the ground in flames.

“Good kill, let’s- Woah!” Yang was interrupted by the sound of rounds slamming into her fighter. Smoke poured from her left engine, but she pulled out of the onslaught. Ruby attempted to pull lead as the aircraft passed, but the left wing stalled, making her focus on straightening the fighter. The interceptor pulled up, ready to make an inside loop and attack again, but was intercepted by a white vapor trail. Wreckage passed us as we looked toward the source of the missile.

“Got him! I owe you girls one when we get back home.” Coco declared.

“Yang, are you and Weiss okay?” Ruby asked.

“We’re okay, but down to one engine. It’s going to take a while to get home, but we should be fine.” She limped her aircraft back into formation, and we formed back up with Lancer flight.

“We’ll follow you, Lancer. Lead us home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter done! We had some POV switching going on there, woah. Anyway, please tell me what you think and leave a suggestion! Until next time, Herperderper out!


	9. Neptune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, another chapter for you. New POV, so hope you enjoy.

“Driver, slow forward. Get us off this landing ship.” Sun’s voice came over the vehicle’s intercom.

“Moving out.” Scarlet replied. With a small jolt, the tank started moving. The sound of the track pads clicking on the metal ship deck almost drowned out the turbine engine and the hydraulic pumps. We rolled off the deck, and onto the soft sand of the beach.

“Driver Halt.”

‘Halting.” The tank came to a quick stop. Sun pushed open his hatch, standing up in his seat. I knew he was talking to the lead tank commander, who was transferring orders along the column. I leaned over to my loader, Sage.

“Hey Sage, you got the coax charged up?” I asked. He reached forward, inspecting the .30 caliber belt leading into the coaxial machine gun. With a marker, he marked the round closest to the weapon with a “1”.

“Weapon loaded and…” He racked the charging handle twice, loading the “1” round into the chamber. “...charged.” Sun dropped back down behind us.

“Alright, infantry is loaded up in the personnel carriers, Viper 1-1 is ready to lead up to Point Golf. The infantry are going to dismount there, then we support them all the way through to Signal. Cobra will stay back for fire support and we have a few Ground-Pounders in the airspace, callsign: Maverick. We also have a Bird-Dog on standby for scouting.” As he finished, the radio crackled.

“Viper 1 is in position and ready to move.”

“That’s the lead tank. Driver, get us in formation.” Sun ordered.

“Moving out.” Again we rolled forward, making our way across the sandy beach. Again, Sun stood in his seat, looking over the terrain from on top of the turret. We stopped behind the second tank in the column.

“Viper 3, in formation.” Sun transmitted.

“Viper 4, ready.

“Viper 5, good to go.”

“Viper 6, in position.”

“Personnel Carriers are ready to move.”

“All units, Viper 1. We are now moving toward Point Golf.” We jolted into motion as Scarlet followed the tanks in front of us.

“Gunner, unlock the gun.” Sun called

“Unlocking.” I replied, flipping the lock switch. The gun clamp released, and I pulled the barrel up to free it. “Gun’s free, ready for contact.”

“Good, standby.” We made our way up the winding road toward where HCAS Signal rested on top of a small hill. Soon, we had crested the ridge and gained a view of the countryside we would soon be fighting over. An excited voice came over the radio.

“Centurion, 11 o’clock, 900 meters, on the opposite ridge!”

“Gunner, find that target.” Sun ordered. I tracked the gun onto the target, finding it easily with the help of my infrared sight.

“Identified!” I called.

“Loader, Sabot!” Sage rammed an armor piercing shell into the breach.

“Up!” With a blast from the muzzle, the Centurion tank fired. I watched the tracer slam into the lead tank, throwing sparks in every direction.

“Fire!” Sun yelled.

“On the way!” I screamed, pulling the trigger. The gun rocked back, before rolling forward again. My round screeched through the air, landing directly between the turret and the hull of the Centurion. Almost instantaneously, the turret hatches flew open, and fire spewed from them.

“Cease fire, target destroyed.” Sage opened the breach, catching the shell as it dropped out, and threw the casing in the ejector. With a small clang, it was thrown out behind the vehicle.

“Viper 1, sitrep?”

“Viper 1 took a hit, but we’re undamaged. Column, move out.” We pushed forward, leaving the burning tank behind. I rotated the barrel back into position ahead of us. The ground crunched beneath the track pads as we move ever closer to our target. We followed the road for a few kilometers before we came into contact again.

“Transports, 2, coming down the road, 12 o’clock, 1 klick.” Viper 1 called out. The gun on the lead tank erupted, sending a massive round toward the transport truck. Shrapnel flew as the truck detonated in a massive fireball. Infantry dismounted from the second truck, scattering on either side of the road.

“Dismounts.” Sun called, slewing his remote controlled .50 caliber machine gun. The gun thumped as he engaged the dismounted infantry.

“All vehicles, cease fire.” The sounds of gunfire ceased, and the only thing heard was the whine of the turbines. Suddenly, the lead vehicle exploded into a bright ball of flame. It’s turret separating from the hull, and landing in the dirt beside it.

“Woah, we just lost Viper 1!” The radio crackled as everyone tried to figure out what happened.

“This is Viper 2 taking command, we need to-” He was interrupted by loud thud, and the radio went silent. Smoke drifted from a hole in the side of the vehicle.

“Driver, 090 degrees, move out!” Sun called. “Viper 3, taking command. Face armor right! PCs get some defilade and dismount. Move, now!” the radio went silent as people complied with the orders. Tanks rotated to the right, facing their armor toward the threat, while the personnel carriers found cover.

“Paladin! On the ridge! 12 o’clock!” I called, finding the heavily armored tank with my infrared sight.

“Loader, Sabot!”

“Up!”

“Fire!”

“On the way!” The tracer slammed into the Paladin’s frontal armor, producing a large amount of sparks, but no actual damage. Again I fired, but for the same result.

“No penetration!” I yelled at Sun. The Paladin fred again, critically damaging the number four tank.

“Maverick, Viper 3. Requesting AGM at One-Zero-Four, One-Four-Seven. Target is Paladin Battle Tank, on the ridge line across from our position, how copy?” Sun practically screamed into the radio.

“Viper, Maverick at ten miles now, bearing Two-Four-Seven, Angels Five. Standby for bomb drop.” came the reply.

“Target is marked, ETA to impact?”

“ETA twenty seconds.”

“This is going to be a long twenty seconds.” I muttered, firing another round into the tank. Just before the Paladin could fire again, the guided missile struck, blowing it to pieces.

“Target destroyed! Good shot Maverick!” The radio was filled with the elation of the tank crews. 

“Let’s get you back on your way Viper, just call again if you need another hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter done. This chapter was all over the place, I really tried to capture the panic and just pure cluster fuck-ness of battle. That being said, I'm not very impressed with this chapter. I don't know what it is, but I don't feel like it's as good as it could be. You have no idea how many times i've had to re-write this chapter because I just didn't like how it felt. I don't know, maybe you can tell me why. Please leave a comment or a suggestion if you have one. Until next time, Herperderper out.


	10. Yang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm an idiot. I had this chapter pre-written, and then totally forgot to post it when I finished up the last chapter. So here it is, keep in mind that this is supposed to go BEFORE the last chapter, so...

The aircraft fought the entire way home. It resisted every roll, every climb, every adjustment. Once, it rolled inverted when an updraft hit us, causing me to frantically right us. The trim tabs had been shot off, so I could not make fine adjustments to the control surfaces. Our wings were shot to pieces, so every time I made a roll, I would have to throw the stick back the other direction to stop it from over rolling. This resulted in the wings almost never being level, and I was exhausted by the time we made it back to Vale AFB. Weiss took over for half the trip so I could rest my sore arms. I took the controls back as we reached final approach.

I followed Ruby’s lead into the runway, but the flaps jammed halfway out and I had to push the throttle forward just to keep from falling out of the sky. Sweat poured down my face as I drew closer to the ground, drifting and sliding across the sky. With a flip of a switch, the landing gear pushed it’s way from it’s berth. Two of the three indicator lights flashed green, showing down and locked, but one remained red. Tires squealed as they hit the ground, and my right wing sagged toward the tarmac, as a result of the landing gear jam. Just before the tip scraped the ground, the jammed wheel struck. We rolled awkwardly down the runway, leaning heavily on the right side. After what seemed like forever, we taxied into the hanger, followed quickly by Ruby. As I spun down the turbines, the hydraulics finally gave out, and the right side gear collapsed, sending Weiss into the side of the canopy.

“Ouch, dammit!” She cursed. She pushed herself off of the glass, and stood up. I popped the canopy and pulled it forward, dragging it from over our heads.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Fine.” she replied angrily.

“Alright, Ice Queen, sorry.” I pulled the harness over my head, and stood to stretch my legs. Stepping over the side wall of the cockpit, I dropped down to the ground. The sound of footsteps made me turn to find Blake and Ruby running up to me. “Oof!” Ruby tackled me to the ground, wrapping me in a hug.

“Thank dust you are okay!"

“I’m fine, baby sis! It’s Weiss you should be worried about, she almost went through canopy when the gear collapsed there.” Blake stood to my left, watching amusedly as Weiss tried to free herself from her harness.

“Need a little help there, Ice Queen?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” Came her short reply, shortly followed by the sound of a pocket knife unfolding. She cut herself free, before climbing out and dropping to the floor.

“It seems we are going to be grounded for a bit while we have some repairs done.” I noted, taking in the full damage of to the aircraft. Holes were strewn around the aircraft, puncturing one engine, and piercing the skin of the plane.

“Let’s go check out the board. That should be it for Blake and I!” Ruby said excitedly.

*** Line Break ***

“That’s it, 5 kills!” Ruby pumped her fist in the air in triumph. The kill board stood in front of us. On it, the names of every pilot in the corps.

4\. Ruby, Blake - RWBY - 5 kills

“Who are they?” asked Weiss, pointing to the names above Ruby and Blake.

1\. Summer, Raven - STRQ + GO - 34 kills  
2\. Glynda, Ozpin - STRQ + GO - 29 kills  
3\. Tai-Yang, Qrow - STRQ + GO - 28 kills

“I obviously know who Ozpin and Glynda are, but what about the others?” she finished

“That’s Mom, Dad, and Uncle Qrow!” Ruby explained.

“And my Mom.” I added. “Oz and Glynda joined up with them after the rest of their team was killed at the beginning of the war. They flew in a three ship formation ever since. Mom and Summer were one hell of a team, they almost made it to Ace 7 by the end of the war.”

“Yeah, Dad and Uncle Qrow could never keep up!”

“Well, I’m going to hit the rack, that flight really took it out of me.” I yawned. Blake leaned down and whispered something in Ruby’s ear.

“Okay Yang! Blake and I are going to get some training in.” Ruby said, quickly turning and walking out with Blake.

“Whatever, I could use some sleep too.” Weiss sighed.

*** I’ve Run Out Of Dumb Things To Say About These Line Breaks ***

I was woken up by the sound of the door opening. Yawning, I sat up in my bunk. Ruby and Blake were entering the room, both covered in bruises. Blake seemed in worse shape than Ruby, she had bruises all along her neck and arms, some on her legs. Her wrists were bruised all the way around, and it looked like she had bite marks on her neck. Ruby had small bruises along her neck and legs, but nothing as bad as Blake’s.

“Geez Ruby, go easy on Blake in the Hand-to-Hand. She looks like she lost a fight with an Ursa.” I said sleepily.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away.” Ruby giggled. Blake just snorted, climbing the ladder to their bunk. Ruby followed, and I could hear them settle in above me. A few minutes passed before Ruby spoke up again. “Team JNPR is going to be fine, right?” She asked timidly.

“Of course, I’m sure they’ll be fine. They’ve trained their asses off for this remember?” I reassured her.

“Right, I’m just worried.”

“Don’t be, now get some sleep.”

“Okay. Night Yang.”

“Night Rubes.”

*** Or So You Thought ***

I could barely hear over my own panting and sobbing. My rifle was held tightly in my right hand, stock pulled into my shoulder. Pyrrha’s hand was clenched tightly in my other hand. The ropes wrapped around my waist pulled me back, digging into my skin. Step after step, I moved slowly through the forest.

“Almost there Pyr, just a few more meters.” I whispered tiredly. Tears were streaming quickly down my face. “Almost…” Again I pushed myself forward. Leaves rustled as my tired feet dragged across them. “No Marine left behind… no Marine left behind....” I repeated to myself.

“JNPR!” A voice called from the distance. More leaves rustled as the owner of the voice drew closer. “Team JNPR, I’m your pilot, we need to… oh dust” the pilot stumbled out into the clearing in front of me. I let go of Pyrrha’s hand, wincing at the thud that followed. I fell to my knees, turning to look behind me. My eyes found Pyrrha first. She was laying on her back, arm outstretched from when I had clutched her hand. Her lifeless eyes open, staring toward the sky. Her chest was a mess of blood, pouring from three wounds near her heart. Her left leg was blown off below the knee, and her right was hanging on by bloodied strips of flesh and uniform. The landmine she had stepped on hadn’t killed her, and she continued to fight to the bitter end.

My eyes slid over to the next form: Ren. A rope was hitched under his arms, the other end attached to my battle belt. His mouth was open slightly, and blood had pooled out of it’s corner. Unlike Pyrrha, his eyes were closed, but it brought me no peace. Much like Pyrrha, however, his chest was a mess of bloody flesh and fabric. He had taken a shot before a frag grenade had landed near us. He sacrificed himself to save us, throwing himself onto it with our hesitation, just before it detonated. 

Nora was next to him, pressed against his body. Another rope attached her to my belt. Her face seemed almost peaceful, the smile that was always on it had remained, but it looked different when the skin it rest upon was ghostly white. There were no visible wounds on her chest, but the thick matte of blood clotted hair on the back of her head made me dizzy. Her arms and legs were twisted, clearly broken from the fighting not long ago. As the enemy overran our position, she had fought them hand to hand, down to the last enemy. She couldn’t turn to face him quick enough, and he had shot her in the back of the head with his pistol. Only then was I able to free myself from the booby trap and finish him off. I fell on my back, arms outstretched toward my fallen teammates.

“I’m sorry.” I sobbed, “I failed you, just like I knew I would.” Strong arms encircled me, and a curtain of white fabric blocked the rest of my team from view. I felt the ropes become tense, before slackening out, as if they were cut. No one said a word as I was carried away, too tired to protest, other than a faint mumble. I was laid down on a hard platform, a transport’s floor, and my head flopped to the side. My eyes locked with Pyrrha’s, her eyes accusing as the transport took off.

*** Does This Break Your Concentration? ***

 

I sat up quickly in the rack, startling Pyrrha beside me.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, she looked worried.

“I’m… I’m fine, just a bad dream.” I told her.

“Alright, just remember, you can talk to me about it, okay?”

“Yeah.” I put my head back down on my pillow.

“Good night, Pyr” I said.

“Good night, Jaune”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, first of all, we have oblivious Yang... that's right, she totally didn't connect the dots for what Ruby and Blake did... Next, I felt really bad writing that last part, even knowing that it was a dream and shit... Thirdly, shit started happening in my life, so updates are going to slow down dramatically. I know they have been horrible as they were lately, but I barley have time to relax now. After getting up at 0500 and then getting home at 1900, all I have time for is dinner and a little bit of relaxation gaming before I have to do it all over again. Hopefully shit will get easier soon, but until then, I won't be able to update often... sorry.


	11. Jaune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, Herperderper finally here with another chapter. Sorry for the wait, but I'm doing the best I can. But enough about me, let's get to the chapter!

The ramp dropped, and I exited the troop carrier, followed by Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. I flinched slightly as the tank guns fired, bombarding Signal with explosive shells. With a metallic sound, I closed the action on my rifle, readying it for combat. Pyrrha closed the bolt on her Designated-Marksman Rifle, nodding to me.

“Alright, remember the brief.” I started. “We are following Alpha to Point Hotel. Two Huntsmen teams have been assigned with the Army. That’s us and CRDL. If we encounter any heavy Alpha-Victors we need to call for an AT team. Light skin is up to me, and Nora has the LAW tube for anything with a little bit of armor. When we reach point Hotel, Sweep and Clear the Air Station, and hold it from the enemy until reinforcements arrive. Ready?” The others nodded. I reached for the radio on my vest, and keyed the mic.

“Juliette standing by.” I said, before releasing the button. I slid open the grenade launcher that was mounted under my barrel, and pushed a 40 millimeter grenade into the tube, before closing it up again.

“Alpha is en route to Point Hotel, ROE is engage at will, over.” I looked at my team, before jerking my head in the direction of the forest between us and Point Hotel. We moved into the treeline, scanning in every-direction for the enemy. The sunlight coming between the branches was blinding, and I had to squint in order to see. All around me, I could hear twigs snap and leaves crunch as soldiers moved through the forest. These sounds were soon drowned out by the revving of a turbine engine and the squeaking of tracks, as Viper started moving to support us. It seemed like hours as we slowly moved, checking all around for enemy troops and traps. The two remaining tanks of Viper were on each flank, moving with us as we made our way toward the objective. Rounds from Cobra streaked over our heads, clearing the tree-tops, and slamming into their targets.

I stepped, looked, stepped again, looked again. The process was monotonous, and was starting to drive me crazy. The shadows seemed like they were trying to kill me. Every one of them seemed to step out and point a gun at me, only to disappear when I focused on them. I wiped the sweat from my left palm onto my blouse, then my right. Soon, I found myself tapping my left thumb on the side of my rifle. Sweat dripped from my forehead, threatening to get in my eyes. Lifting my glasses, I drew the back of my right hand across my brow, temporarily stopping it.

“This is way too quiet.” I muttered to Pyrrha. Just as I looked forward again, a figure stepped out from behind a tree, a long tube slung over his shoulder.

“Rocket!” Someone yelled, and a hail of gunfire cut the man down. Then, all hell broke loose. Muzzle flashes and tracers appeared from the hill in front of us. Rounds snapped over our heads, and soldiers started dropping to the ground. Viper 1-3, the tank nearest us, turned its side to the barrage of gunfire, allowing us to take cover without cooking in its exhaust. I leaned up against the side, resting the barrel of my rifle on the top of the hull, and started firing. The tank’s coaxial machine gun and commander’s gun we already lighting up the hillside, searching for any target they could find. Amongst the sounds of gunfire and snaps of bullets, I could hear soldiers screaming. Screaming orders, screaming for help, and screaming in pain. Amidst the chaos, one voice stood out.

“CLS, CLS!” it called. The voice cracked, and soon returned. “CLS!” this time, the voice seemed close to tears. I looked, identifying the source of the voice. A young soldier sat behind a small tree, seemingly pinned behind it. In his lap sat another man. He didn’t seem to be moving, and the red soaked uniform told me why.

“Corpsman!” I yelled, and Ren turned to me.

“Corpsman up!” he screamed back, firing a few rounds before making his way to me. I pointed to the two soldiers behind the tree.

“I’m gonna smoke it,” I yelled in his ear, so he could understand me over the gunfire. “Take Nora and get those two behind this tank, then take a look at the wounded!” He nodded, tapping Nora on the back. I pulled a smoke grenade from my vest, and pulled the pin.

“Smoke out!” I screamed, releasing the spoon, and tossing it between us and the stranded men. The smoke soon started to fill, and I tapped Ren on the shoulder. He and Nora dashed to help the soldiers, and I resumed firing at the hillside. Soon, the crunching of leaves behind me told me that they were back. I turned, finding the two soldiers behind me, Ren and Nora crouching beside the wounded man.

“Nora, resume firing.” I told her, and she nodded. I moved along the side of the tank, soon finding a slight bulge in the armor. Opening the case, I pulled a small phone out. Bringing it to my ear, I looked over the top of the hull.

“Viper 1-3, target, bunker, 1-3-2 degrees, range 400 meters, one round, High-explosive, over.” I yelled into the phone, trying to be as clear as possible.

“Roger, 1-3-2, 400, one round, HE, Identified.” Came the reply. The gun slewed to the target, raising slightly. After a short pause, the commander spoke again. “On the way!”

“Cover!” I screamed, ducking below the tank, and pressing my hands to my ears. The gun erupted and the tank rocked, pushing me a little. Standing again, I found the target to be in pieces.

“Target destroyed, new target 1-3-7, 400 meters, repeat last fire mission!” I said, again taking cover behind the vehicle. Again, the gun fired, and the vehicle rocked. Viper 1-5, the other remaining tank seemed to be doing the same thing. Soon, the gunfire stopped, and the silence became deafening. I turned to Ren, who was still kneeling beside the wounded soldier. A bandage was slung around the man’s stomach, and his battle-buddy was sitting beside him, holding his hand. Ren caught sight of me, and made his way to my side.

“He’ll make it, but he won’t fight again.” He muttered. “Round damn near collapsed his chest cavity. He’s lucky I didn’t have to dart him.” I nodded, standing slowly.

“Let the medics take care of him, We have to go sweep Point Hotel. He nodded, and picked up his rifle. Again, the line of soldiers and tanks pushed through the forest. Soon, we reached the edge of the tree line, and we were greeted by a gruesome sight. The base’s defenses were completely destroyed. H-barriers were blown to pieces, and structures were reduced to rubble. Bodies, and body parts, were strewn across the ground. One Mistralian soldier was thrown over a concrete barrier, his legs and back obviously broken. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to get rid of the images.

“Alright,” I turned to my team. “Sweep the ruins, once it’s clear of the living, I want body checks. Search for any intel you can find.” Ren and Nora nodded, heading off into the base. Pyrrha lingered for a second, resting her hand on my shoulder.

“You did good, Jaune.” She said. Before moving off.

“Thanks Pyr.” I muttered, before finding the nearest body. Sighing, I began my checks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Herperderper back again. What'd you think? I'm trying out a little bit of a different writing style, so hopefully you liked it. So in this chapter we had a few acronyms and phonetic callouts, so here is a list of vocab.  
> Alpha-Victor: Armored Vehicle  
> LAW: Light Anti-tank Weapon  
> ROE: Rules of Engagement  
> CLS: Combat Life Saver, the CLS (Along with the Corpsman) is basically a battlefield medic.  
> Anywho, I hope you liked the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one. Herperderper out.


	12. Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Herperderper here with a very long overdue chapter of AoA. After being distracted by tests, family, work, ArmA III, Battlefield 1, and War Thunder, I finally got out another chapter! Yay! A few notes before the chapter begins, just a bit of Vocab.
> 
> Guns Winchester - Out of ammunition  
> Ordinance - Bombs, Rockets, Missiles, and shit.
> 
> On to the chapter, hope you like it!

\- 0710 hours - Vale AFB - Lieutenant Commander Ruby Rose - 

 

Blake and I sat in the barracks, leaning against the bunk. My laptop was resting on my legs, a game running on it’s screen. Blake’s head was resting on my shoulder as I played. The objective of the game was quite simple: don’t lose. How you did that was another question. The most straight-forward way to do that was to destroy all the enemy aircraft. Other than that, bombing ground forces and destroying the enemy’s airfield were the other options. These options were fairly easy to understand, or so I thought.

 

“Get the bombers, you idiots.” I grumbled as I watched my team’s points drop yet again. My teammates were flying down on the deck, attempting to dogfight with the enemy’s superior turn-fighters. 

 

“Are you talking to your laptop again?” Blake asked, sleepily.

 

“Yes.” I said, focusing on the screen. She just shook her head a little, settling back down on my shoulder. My plane dipped and ducked as I expertly guided it through a bomber’s hail of defensive fire. Once in range, I let the lead fly. After a second or two from the cannons, the bomber ripped apart and fell toward the ground. I pulled up and away, clearing myself from the wild wall of tracer that the panicked plane had sent at me, before diving to help the rest of my team.

 

As I watched, one of two remaining friendly aircraft was torn apart by rounds from the plane he had been fighting. The victorious fighter loosened it’s turn, searching for a new target. I struck without warning, planting almost 20 explosive cannon rounds on his lightly armored wing roots. With a massive fireball, the aircraft fell to the ground. I pulled up again, converting energy back into altitude, and set myself up over the next target. Again I dove, killing it quickly, and as I pulled up, I met an enemy fighter as it dove on me. Firing a quick burst, I used the rudder to dodge his shots. Triumphantly, I watched the aircraft smash into the ground, exploding into a million pieces. My elation was short lived, as my wing suddenly ripped away and my aircraft started spiraling toward the ground.

 

“What! Where?” I almost shouted, before the game showed me an image of an enemy aircraft approaching me from behind. “Ugh, the spotting system in this game sucks!” I complained. Blake just giggled.

 

“Hey, nerds!” Yang shouted, bursting through the door. “CFVY’s back, Ice Queen and I are going to see how their sortie was.” I jumped up, grabbing Blake’s hand, and pulled her out the door after Yang.

 

“Slow down Ruby!” Blake yelled, stumbling behind me. Soon, we caught up to CFVY as they stepped out of the hanger.

 

“Hey girls.” Coco called tiredly, attempting to clip her helmet to her belt.

 

“How is it over there?” Weiss questioned, walking up behind us.

 

“It’s not pretty.” Velvet sighed, leaning heavily on Coco.

 

“Are you alright?” Blake asked, concerned for the Rabbit Faunus. She nodded.

 

“Just tired.” She explained. “ We were orbiting for hours. The counter-attack hit at 0300. Hit the East side hard. We lost Charlie 2 in the first few minutes. Viper 1-5 went shortly after that, they got an AT rocket to arc over the wall. At 0600 we were relieved by an Air Force detachment of Atlesian Guardians. Fox and I were Guns Winchester with no ordinance, Coco and Yatsu still had about 12 rounds in the cannon.”

 

“Basically,” Coco spoke up, “It’s a shit show over there.” Fox and Yatsuhashi nodded form behind them.

 

“Well,” Yang started, “We’re all fixed up here, so we got scheduled for the 1500 sortie.”

 

“Good luck.” Velvet smiled.

 

“Thanks.” I said. “You should probably get some rest now.”

 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” As CFVY walked tiredly toward the Barracks, I turned to Yang.

 

“I hope JNPR is okay.” I sighed.

 

“I’m sure they’re fine.” She reassured me.

 

*** Break ***

 

\- 0300 hours - HCAS Signal - Gunnery Sergeant Jaune Arc -

 

I tapped the side of my rifle lightly with my gloved hand. Nervous energy was building up inside me. The rumbling sound of Lancer flight’s engines rolled across the landscape. The night was extremely dark, with almost no moon and few stars to light it. My monocular Night Vision Device was struggling to find any light to amplify. I leaned against the H-barrier beside me, scanning the terrain. The green tinted barriers gave way to green tinted hills, and to green tinted forest. Stretching the fingers of my left hand, I looked to my right, finding Pyrrha leaning against the barrier.

 

A soft click to my left surprised me. Snapping my head toward the source of the sound, I found a young soldier playing with his fire-selector switch. I stretched my hand over to him, stopping him before he could make another sound. Surprised, he looked up at me. I stared sternly back at him as I quietly moved his selector switch back to semi-automatic. He nodded, looking down, before he turned back to look out over the hills. My breath fogged in front of me, and I shivered slightly from the cold. Beginning to tap my rifle again, I leaned out to look farther past my cover. In the darkness, a shape seemed to move.

 

It was slow, almost unnoticeable. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest, and my breath caught in my throat. I slowly brought up my rifle and waited. After a few seconds, it moved again. Slowly, deliberately, it stepped slightly closer to the barriers. Again it stopped, waiting to see if anyone had noticed it. I squeezed the grip of my rifle, depressing the button for my Infrared Laser sight. The beam cut through the darkness, cutting off abruptly when it hit the shape. In the tiny amount of ambient light the beam gave off, I recognized the rough shape of a rifle. Again the shape began to move. Faster this time, less carefully. It had probably noticed the laser. I squeezed the trigger.

 

The silence was broken by the crack of my shot. With a soft thud, the shape crumpled to the ground. Silence returned, but was quickly shattered by a hail of gunfire. I ducked back behind my barrier, watching as someone near me didn’t get to cover in time. He fell was a short scream. Cursing, I reached for my radio.

 

“Crossroads, Juliette and Charlie are taking heavy fire from enemy force of unknown size on the East side of Signal, over!” I shouted.

 

“Roger that. Hold your ground, Juliette. Viper 1-5 will provide fire support, along with support from Lancer flight. Out.” Peeking out from the barrier, I could see blinding muzzle flashed in the forest. Leaning my rifle on the barrier, I started firing toward the flashed.

 

“18, 19, 20, 21…” I counted, making sure I knew how much ammo I had left. I reached to my vest, pulling a fresh magazine from a pouch. Holding it between my thumb and index finger, I brought it up to my rifle. I grabbed to already loaded magazine between my index and middle fingers.

 

“29.” I pressed the magazine release, pulling the empty one out, and quickly placing the fresh one into the magwell. The last round from the old magazine was already in the chamber, meaning there was no need to charge the weapon, speeding up the reload process. I fired a few more rounds before taking cover again. Opening up the breach of my under barrel grenade launcher, I collected the explosive grenade that had previously been loaded. Placing a red flare shell into the breach, I closed it again.

 

“Lancer, Juliette.” I called out over the radio.

 

“Go for Lancer.”

 

“Requesting CAS on infantry in the treeline, East side of Signal, targets will be marked by red flare, how copy?”

 

“Solid copy, Juliette. Soft targets in the treeline, awaiting mark.”

 

“Standby.” I reached for the trigger and lifted the barrel into the air.

 

“Flare going out!” I shouted, watching people scramble for their night vision. After a few seconds, I fired it into the air. It sailed over the wall, before igniting in mid-air over the tree line.

 

“Juliette, Lancer has eyes on the targets. We’ll be making a gun run on a North-South line, ETA 20 seconds, how copy?”

 

“Juliette copies.” I leaned out, firing a few rounds into the treeline. As green tracers passed, I ducked back behind cover.

 

“Guns, guns, guns.” Lancer called over the radio. The treeline outside the wall suddenly exploded with noise and light. Trees were blown to splinters, and soldiers blown to bits as the 30 millimeter rounds detonated. I sat behind my barrier, ears covered by my hands as I waited for the bombardment to end. It soon did, and the silence that followed was deafening.

 

“Lancer, Juliette, good effect on target.” I transmitted, finding the treeline almost gone. The soldier next to me leaned out as well, observing the carnage.

 

“Damn, dude. We really showed those sons-a-’ b-”

 

Snap, thud!

 

“Oof-” He fell backward, helmet hitting the dirt and rolling off his head. He clutched weakly at his chest plate, which was turning a deep red. I stared, my mind blank, as he lay on the ground.

 

Snap, thud!

 

“Ahh!” Another soldier fell, grasping at his chest.

 

“Enemy sniper!” someone screamed, before he was cutoff. A struggled gurgling sound replaced his voice, and he reached for his neck. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. Opening my eyes again, I ducked back into cover after a round tore through the canvas side of the barrier.

 

***I really hope that man doesn’t have anymore Lines he has to speak… no… ok. I’ll stop with the shitty Line Break puns… no I won’t***

 

\- 0307 hours - Near HCAS Signal - Marksman, Rank: Unknown, Name: Unknown - 

 

“Dammit.” I cursed, racking a new round into the chamber. The wind had picked up at the wrong moment, sending my round into the barrier beside my target. I searched for another, quickly dispatching him once I found one. Freeing the empty magazine from the rifle, I reached for a new one, only to be met with an empty pouch.

 

“Dammit!” I cursed again. I never did get time to reload after the skirmish in the forest. I scanned over the walls, scouting out the area. As I watched, a small glowing trail lifted out of the destroyed treeline, arced over the wall, and exploded on the form of one of the Valesian tanks. The resulting pillar of flame illuminated the night for a few seconds, before dying down.

 

“Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to head home.” I muttered to myself. Dragging myself back over the hill, I waited until I was fully covered from the walls before getting up and walking back toward the Forward Operating Base.

 

I walked for over an hour before finding the clearing in which the base was placed. Beside the military structure stood a less formal camp. Three white tents, one larger than the others, were erected next to the wall. The side of each tent was adorned with an insignia, a dark beast with 3, jagged claw marks behind it. I pushed my way into the largest tent, finding a large group of faunus around the map table.

 

“Right,” I said, as everyone looked at me. “Let’s start planning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter done. That was a lot of POV switching, and I apologize... or do I? I also tried out a new way of switching the POVs, so please tell me what you think of it. Anywho, the game Ruby was playing at the beginning of the chapter was based on War Thunder, a game that I love and hate at the same time. The specific details of the match mirror a round I played while in the process of writing the chapter, so I decided to put it in. I hope you liked the chapter, please tell me what you think! Until next time, Herperderper, out.
> 
> BTW In response to turtlesav's comment on the last chapter, Thanks for pointing out the error, it was just a little problem with an accidental draft chapter. The chapter numbers should be fixed now... probably


	13. Weiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uhh... It's been a while hasn't it? Like, over a year. I apologize for basically dieing, but I'll get more into that after the Chapter. as for now, some notes.  
> *Notes in order of appearance*  
> Nails - RWR indication of a search radar that is not currently locked onto you, usually shown as a circle with an ID number or letter inside  
> BRA - Bearing, Range, Altitude, which is usually followed by an indicator of travel (Hot: inbound, Cold: outbound, Flanking: kinda self explanatory)  
> IFF - Identification Friend or Foe  
> Spike - RWR indication of an actively tracking radar, usually indicated by a circle with an ID surrounded by a hard diamond  
> Notch - Blind spot of an onlooking radar, since radar works on the Doppler effect, an object that is moving perpendicular to the radar and below the horizon is almost invisible. It's actually a very cool concept to learn about and if you want to learn more about it I'll link a video in the ending notes.  
> Pitbull - the final stage of an Active Radar missile's flight. The on-board radar takes over and locks on to the enemy aircraft
> 
> And with that out of the way, let's get in to the good stuff.

\- 1540 hours - Outside HCAS Signal - Lieutenant Weiss Schnee -

“Bulldog 1-1, Viper 3, it’s all been quiet for a few hours but our watch is still up. Hopefully it will remain quiet.

“Roger Viper 3, Loadmaster has broken and is now enroute to your position. We’ll be here to support.”

“Thanks Bulldog, Viper out.” I listened to the radio chatter while simultaneously checking over the instruments.

“2-1, 1-1.” Ruby’s said. 

“Go for 2-1.” Yang replied.

“My wing tanks are showing empty, how about you?”

“Wings are empty, ready to switch the Centerline.”

“Roger, switching to Centerline tanks.” Yang switched from the Wing Tanks to the Centerline Tanks, ensuring a stable fuel supply to the engines. I continued to scan over the instruments, checking the radar sensors and watching out for any avionics failures.

“Bulldog 1-1, Loadmaster.” a voice interrupted my boredom.

“Send it.” Ruby replied.

“Loadmaster is now on final to LZ, ETA 2 mikes to extract.”

“Roger that Loadmaster, we’ll cover the extract. Bulldog, out.” The bullhead was filled with much needed ammunition and supplies for the forces at HCAS Signal. We had escorted it from Vale AFB to the HCAS, then Yang and I were supposed to escort it to a pre planned split point while Ruby and Blake remained to cover Signal. As we waited, I looked over the radar screen. It remained perfectly clear, except for Loadmaster and Bulldog 1-1.

“Scope’s clear.” I told Yang, letting her know that she knew she was safe to disengage from Ruby when the time came.

“Thanks, Weiss.” She responded, her eyes almost locked on her sister’s aircraft. The tight formation was a strain to keep up, but it masked our exact numbers from the prying electronic eyes of enemy radar. We continued in a wide orbit around Signal.

“Bulldog, Loadmaster, package is dropped and we are currently RTB.”

“Roger that Loadmaster, I’m sending 2 your way now.” Ruby told the other pilot. Just before the left wing blocked my view, Blake looked over and gave a small salute. I slumped slightly in my seat as Yang started loading a few G’s onto the airframe in the turn. After a few seconds we leveled out and accelerated toward Loadmaster. The sound of the turbines increased in pitch, as Yang pushed the throttles forward.

As we pulled up alongside the Bullhead, Yang throttled back and the fighter slid into position off the transport’s wing. Yang made contact by radio, but I tuned it out in favor of scanning the avionics. The forward looking radar was clear, and the radar warning receiver only showed the ‘Nails’ indication of Bulldog 1. After a few minutes of flight, we reached the split point, and turned away from the Bullhead, back toward Signal. As we completed the turn, the relative silence of the cockpit was broken by the radio.

“Bulldog, Magic, priority traffic.” It was the Ground Controller.

“Send it Magic.” came Ruby’s reply.

“Bulldog, pop-up group. BRA 0-8-5 for 100 at angels 2-0, Hot. Flight of 2 times Nevermore, 2 times Ursa, how copy?”

“Solid copy, Magic. 1 is enroute to intercept.” After the transmission ended, Yang leaned to look back at me.

“Weiss, get us a vector.”

“Roger.” I replied, reaching for my throttle and the Comms switches. “Magic 1, Bulldog 2, request vector to target.”

“Bulldog 2, Magic, target bearing 1-0-0 for 150, how copy?”

“2 solid copy, en route.” Yang put the nose on the bearing and pushed the throttles a little farther forward. I focused down on the radar, searching for the targets. Soon, a blip appeared on the screen, a box with a cross through it. It signified an aircraft that was sending an IFF signal, most likely Bulldog 1. Pushing the scan range even farther, I quickly found a 4 ship formation, stacked together at 20 thousand feet.

“I have them, sending it to your HUD.” I exclaimed, soft locking the 4 targets.

“Got ‘em!” Yang called back to me. We continued to close, and I watched the range close. We were quickly nearing maximum launch distance, and we were also closing on Bulldog 1, who was flying slower to allow us to catch up. After a few more seconds, we passed max range. Yang held her fire, wanting to get closer to secure a hit. The range tick crawled toward “Turn and Run” range. Suddenly, the RWR lit up with 2 Ursa ‘Spikes’, accompanied by a constant warning tone.

“Spike! 2 times Ursa, 12 o’clock, long range!” I shouted up to Yang, who grunted a quick affirmative. I forced down the nervousness rising in my gut. Just as quickly as it had started, the tone stopped, replaced by a much more sinister warning. A high pitched beep with a growling under-tone. Missile launch.

“Shit!” Yang yelled, “Fox 3 times 2!” The missiles jumped off the rails before Yang cranked the aircraft into a diving right turn, attempting to get into the enemy radar’s blind spot.

“2, Fox 3 times 2. Defensive right.” I called to Ruby, my voice a forced calm.

“1, Fox 3 times 2. Defensive left.” Blake’s voice sounded similar to mine. She sounded calm, yet strained. Yang leveled the wings, settling into the ‘Notch’. The 2 missiles we had fired were active radar guided, so the enemy would not receive a launch tone until they went ‘Pitbull’. We continued in the notch for a few more seconds, and the Fire Control System assured me that the missiles had indeed gone Pitbull.

“1, Pitbull.” Blake transmitted.

“2, Pitbull.” I added. 10 more seconds passed, and 2 black streaks appeared on the horizon.

“Splash 2!” Blake exclaimed, and Yang turned the aircraft back in toward the enemy group. Only 2 remained, the Nevermore bombers.

“2, 1 is taking the bomber at 21 thousand, you take 20 thousand.” Blake commanded.

“2.” I targeted the lower aircraft, and prepared to fire another missile.

“1, Fox 3.”

“2, Fox 3.”

…

 

“1, Pitbull.”

2, Pitbull.” Again the dark streaks appeared, and the bombers were destroyed.

“Good splash!” Blake stated, and I could hear that she was smiling. I couldn’t help grinning as well. We joined back up into formation.

“2, 1.” This time Ruby was the one talking. “Let’s get back to our orbit, we’re right over-”

“Break break!” a panicked voice interrupted. “Bulldog, go defensive, missile!” I was thrown into the sidewall of the cockpit as Yang rolled the aircraft and pulled. She deployed flares rapidly, attempting to decoy the missile. As we turned, I looked over my shoulder to see the missile trail. It came straight up from a ridge opposite of Signal. A MANPADS. A shoulder fired, heat seeking missile. I closed my eyes, bracing myself on the cockpit. The shock threw me forward, and the cockpit glass cracked. Through the roaring wind and engines, I could hear a new sound. A scream. It was Yang, a scream of agony tearing itself from her lips.

“Engine fire, right!” The computer shouted. As the wrecked craft started to enter a flat spin, I reached down for the tandem eject handle. With a small explosion, the canopy was blasted off, and the seats followed quickly after it. With a jolt, the chute opened above me. I scanned quickly for Yang’s parachute.

“Yang!” I screamed as I found it. The white canvas dome was dropping quickly toward the ground. She landed hard, the lack of last second flare showing that she was likely unconscious. I landed as close to her as I could, quickly shedding the chute and sprinting to her. As I reached her, I dropped to her side.

‘Talk to me, Yang.” I said, attempting to stay calm. She wasn't moving and her body looked pretty beat up. Thinking back to my training, I started to sweep for blood. Her head was fine, only slight bruising. Moving down to her torso, I found no blood on her chest and back. I squeezed a hand under her right side, the side she was laying on, and it came back sticky with blood.

“No. No, no, no.” I muttered, tears starting to stream down my face. I rolled her onto her back, gasping when I saw the injury. Her right arm was missing, cut jaggedly just above the elbow. Part of the warhead must have taken it off. Reaching into my limited medical supplies, I fished out a tourniquet and set to work stopping the bleeding. Just as I finished, I a group of people moving in the woods behind me. Reaching for my gun, I spun quickly around to meet them.

“Weiss!” Jaune yelled, “It’s us!” I relaxed slightly, holstering the weapon and turning back to Yang. I heard Ren run up beside me, opening up his medical pack. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora took a knee next to me. Taking Yang’s left hand in mine, I collapsed against Pyrrha. As Ren took the situation out of my hands, I started to lose my composure. After the first sob, the red haired Huntress took me into her arms and began to whisper soothingly into my ear. In the background, I was acutely aware of Jaune making a transmission.

“... immediate Casevac, Cat-alpha injury…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, time for the end notes. Now, as promised I'll explain a little bit as to why I have been missing for a long time. As I have mentioned before, I've been very busy and have found it hard to make time to write. And when I do, I start to read the story over again to refresh myself with the story, but the entire time I just cringe at all my old writing. It's really hard to motivate yourself to do something if you don't like what you've already done. And, quite honestly I don't know how much longer I can keep this work going for. I just want to thank all of you for your continued support. I'm still getting Kudos on this work, and I don't even know how many pages you have to be in the RWBY tag to even find this before this update. Just know that I will not cancel this without warning, but the updates may be few and far between. If you haven't already, please check out my other work "Heart of a Dragon". This work is honestly a joy to write, so if anything happens to AoA you can assume I'll still be working on Heart.
> 
> Well, now that that's over, here is the video link I promised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-i4eZWD-Nw
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you thought of it. It really helps. Now, until the next one, Herperderper out.


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